Delay in public sector pay unacceptable - Robinson

 

Opposition Spokesman on Finance and the Public Service, Julian Robinson, said the uncertainty about when all public sector workers will be paid is unacceptable.

 

He lamented the "level of anxiety" being felt by public sector workers who have made plans for their salaries but are yet to receive them just three days before the weekend heading into Christmas. 

 

"It's totally an untenable situation and needs to be rectified and dealt with so that people have certainty that by today, at the latest, they know what they are getting – and not just that they're going to be paid, but they know what they are going to be paid – because the second part of the uncertainty is not knowing exactly what the sum will be, based on the new calculations that will be derived." 

 

Contract workers 

 

Mr. Robinson is also concerned about contract workers whom he said are not being treated equitably in the new compensation system.

 

The Jamaica Medical Doctors Association disclosed this week that only doctors who have permanent posts in the public health system will be awarded retroactive pay, despite the fact that a majority of doctors are on contract.

 

Mr. Robinson said the policy is discriminatory and should be reversed. 

 

"It's discriminatory because contract workers have been chosen to be on contract. That's the only form of employment that was offered to them when they engaged in the public service," he said, adding that it is "an unfair system to people who have been doing the same duties, the same responsibilities as their colleagues and will end up worse off".