EPOC chairman defends recommendation to cap public sector wages as percentage of GDP

By Prince Moore    

 

Chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC), Keith Duncan, has defended his recommendation to cap public sector wages at a percentage of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

 

Mr. Duncan says the proposal is not intended to limit wages but rather to ensure there is economic growth, which will in turn enable the country to pay workers more.  

 

He says GDP growth will enable the country to increase wages and make them more competitive while delivering quality service to the Jamaican people.

 

"We're not capping people's wages in terms of dollar values. We're saying it has to be capped as a percentage of GDP and we need to focus on growing the GDP and to put some performance measures around that, so as we grow the gross domestic product that we can pay more. But we need to have a cap because you can't manage your business if the thing is growing and growing and growing and therefore it is crowding out other areas, investments we must have in the country," he contended. 

 

Mr. Duncan said focus should be placed on developing human capital to provide the skills to drive economic growth.

 

"We hear of the work of HEART [NSTA Trust] and I hear a lot of things happening within HEART, but are we attracting the people? Are we getting the material out of our primary schools and high schools that can deliver the skills gap that we have in Jamaica? If we don't focus there we're not going to be adding value added production to our country. That is where GDP grows.

 

"Right now what we have is an economy that delivers services which are low value added. If we're going to be able to deliver high value added GDP growth we're going to have a train up our poor people, focus on our people, human capital development. That's where we need to put the focus and we also need to focus on getting our public service more efficient so that when investors come to this country, or local, domestic, international investors come, that it's easy to do business in Jamaica," insisted the EPOC chairman, who was speaking Monday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines.

 

 

The Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) as well as the Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) have rejected the recommendation for a cap on public sector wages as a percentage of GDP.

 

JCTU President St. Patrice Ennis believes such a move would not be in the best interest of public sector workers at this time.

 

He argued that public sector salary scales are still below that of other countries in the region. 

 

"We are not near what we are entitled to or what the public sector workers are actually valued, and it took us three years to implement what we should have had about three years ago. So what we are getting now is not what the report says that we are valued but is how the government could afford to pay it. So we are still below what is actually required," he asserted. 

 

JCSA President Techa Clarke-Griffiths took a similar position, contending that the public sector alone is not responsible for securing economic growth.

 

She said the private sector also has a role to play.

 

Mrs. Clarke-Griffiths said Mr. Duncan should have dialogue with trade unions to have a better understanding of issues facing public sector workers. 

 

"Our public sector workers have sacrificed a lot to get this country in the economic position that it's in, and so I would want him to really really sit down with the trade union movement to have conversations with us before coming out and making statements like those. Growth is more than just public sector workers working. There are other facets that makes growth in an economy and the private sector also have a role to play. He needs to say what the private sector is going to be doing to grow the economy as well. It is always on public sector workers to do this and to do that. We are the ones who carried the burden," she complained. 

 

Both Mrs. Clarke-Griffiths and Mr. Ennis were also guests on Beyond the Headlines.