15 per cent salary increase

15 per cent! That is the amount that this island’s largest trade union would be asking for when they aim to negotiate for a salary increase for the public servants who are members of their union.

 

Speaking to the media after a meeting with public servants at Solidarity House on Tuesday evening, General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), Toni Moore said that this was the decision that they reached after it was given to them by their Executive Council and one that they had discussed with the shop stewards within the public sector at this meeting.

 

“The Barbados Workers’ Union through a decision handed down from our Executive Council – because as it relates to percentages that we propose for negotiations whether in the private sector or in the public sector – that is usually an Executive Council position; that is a position that forms support with the workers when we discussed it this evening, that we should present what we have been presenting all during the crisis in the private sector and that is a proposal for a two year agreement and we would be looking at a 15 per cent across the board increase.”

 

Moore further stated the choice of 15 per cent was a decision that the Union had reached after careful consideration on what would be feasible at this point in time.

 

“The fact that we are asking for 15 per cent is a BWU position, but we always submit negotiated positions in negotiations. The NUPW I am aware have submitted 23 (per cent). That is where they would want to begin. Our negotiated position represents what the Barbados Workers’ Union has recognised as being practical within the context of the last eight years that we were in crisis and we thought that we should not vary that now only because it is public sector negotiations and only because there has been an obvious trigger.”

 

She also told the press that she would like to submit the proposals before the end of this week and she would also like negotiations to start “as soon as possible” for these contract negotiations which would run for a two year period from April 1st, 2016 to March 31st, 2018.

 

The BWU Head added that hopefully the success of these negotiations would only lead to the success of other contract negotiations with respect to salary increases in the future.

“Hopefully a sizable increase to all public sector workers that would naturally also set a precedence or stage for us advancing talks with other divisions of ours who pattern after the Government sector negotiations.”