UTASP chief defends decision not to sign public sector compensation agreement

The Union of Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Personnel (UTASP) is among those which have not yet assented to the government’s new compensation package, with the union’s General-Secretary, St. Patrice Ennis, revealing that his  members still have some concerns.

Mr Ennis, speaking Sunday on Radio Jamaica's weekly news review programme - That's a Rap - said he was not satisfied with the fact that the details of the compensation package have not been fully shared with the unions.

“We had requested the documentation… to see a draft prior to us signing, so that we could see all that was being negotiated, exactly where we (had) reached in terms of the negotiations,” he explained.

Having not been “furnished with a draft, documenting exactly where people would fall on the scale… and all the things we’ve been talking about, and that to be furnished before signing,” he said it was not reasonable for his union to have been expected to sign the agreement.

It was of fundamental importance, “to see exactly what I’m signing-on to,” he asserted.

UTASP represents Medical Technologists, Port Workers, Met Office employees and Maintenance workers in the public sector.

The Ministry of Finance and The Public Service confirmed last week that  fourteen unions had signed the new wage deal under the restructured public sector compensation system.

The Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE) and the Jamaica Teachers Association, like UTASP, are among those which have not yet signed the pact.

Mrs Harrison said the acceptance of the package by the other unions did not have any bearing on the JTA.

She said the JTA had received outstanding information which is being reviewed to continue the negotiations, adding that the matter of salaries and benefits continue to be a major obstacle for the JTA in accepting the package.