by Hezekan Bolton Excerpt Jamaica Observer 1/5/17
Dear Editor,
The negotiations between civil servants and the Government have reached an impasse and the situation calls for some memory jogging of Prime Minister Andrew Holness at this time.
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| Andrew Holness addresses a party gathering. (Observer file photo) |
While the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was in Opposition, Holness, as Leader of the Opposition, on a political platform, eloquently outlined the plight of the civil servants. He told the audience that his mother was a civil servant and how difficult it was for her to send himself and his sister to school on a civil servant's salary. He offered empathy for the plight that was facing the public sector workers and highlighted the tremendous sacrifice they made by enduring five years of wage freeze and how the inflation eroded their spending power.
He mentioned that the People's National Party (PNP) was asking civil servants to accept a seven per cent wage increase because if any more were offered they would fail the International Monetary Fund's test. Holness bragged that when they were the Government the JLP cared more about the people's test and were the ones to have given the civil servants a wage increase. He stated that his party understood that if you are interested in growing the country you cannot keep the largest part of your labour force, the public sector, under austerity. He spoke of the public sector workers' demotivation, which will result in the country going backward, so in order for the country to go forward, motivating the public sector workers is paramount.
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