No indication of Public Sector wage increase

Another indication has been given that there will be no major wage increases this year for government paid workers.

Speaking as he opened the Budget Debate, Finance Minister Dr. Peter Phillips said the government had rejected the concept of mass lay offs of public sector workers.

He did not say whether there would be a wage freeze, but repeatedly stressed that there must be fiscal responsibility and reduced government spending.

The Finance Minister said there was no point breaking into an empty shop and there was very little in the government’s cupboard for workers to get.

The Finance Minister said the country was being required to reduce the percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that was spent on salaries of government workers.

Dr. Phillips said discussions had been going on with the various unions and groups but he stressed that the discussions had to be brought to an end soon.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) is expressing concern that public sector workers will have to brace for another year of economic hardship.

Vice President of the JCTU Helene Davis-White was responding to this afternoon’s (May 24) presentation by Finance Minster Dr. Peter Phillips as he started the Budget Debate for the 2012 - 2013 financial year.

Mrs. Davis-White told Irie FM News, that she is pleased that the Finance Minister had indicated that there will not be any wide-scale redundancies in the public sector.

Mrs. Davis-White however noted, that public sector workers will not welcome the Finance Minister's idea that government cannot raid a bare cupboard, which indicates that there will be no wage increase.