Minister Inniss calls for common sense to prevail
A member of Government is hoping that common sense can prevail upon the management and leadership of trade unions to realise the fragility of the economy and not to engage in any activities that can cause further dislocation to the society.
On Monday afternoon, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) General Council voted to begin industrial action in an effort to force Government back to the round table to negotiate a pay rise for civil servants.
However, while making his contribution to the Appropriation bill 2017, in the House of Assembly yesterday, Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development Donville Inniss, said if the Union was dissatisfied about not being given an opportunity to meet with the ruling Democratic Labour Party, then the Government has a duty to engage with them.
He said he has been paying attention to the points being made by trade unions as they rightfully call for salary increases, but stressed that he would not be fooling himself into believing that a 23 per cent increase in salary is palatable and acceptable at this time.
“Trade union leaders in Barbados today in their quiet moments, when all the noise has settled and they lay down at night to rest their head, to realise that what they are asking is grossly unreasonable,” he said.
Inniss said seven hundred and twenty-one million dollars was spent on wages and salaries last year, noting this significant figure may remain the same this year, or could be even higher.
He explained that the only way to cut wages and salaries is through reducing the size of the public sector, but this can only be accomplished if the size of the private sector is increased, against the background that massive unemployments is accompanied by serious dislocation that can affect generations.
“It is okay for the individuals to say cut wages, but wages mean cut employment in the public sector and we all know the consequences as Members of Parliament. When I traverse my constituency, there are pockets of individuals who have not yet been given a chance to find meaningful employment, or they feel that they are underemployed and when we cut in the public sector drastically, we are adding to that frustration,” he said.
Inniss noted that while much of the Estimate debate was centred around the state of the national debt situation, the country is currently at the crossroads and a decision must be made on what direction should be taken in regards to moving forward.
The Minister suggested that sending home workers is not the only way to resolve Government’s high wages and salaries bill, but there is also a need for increasing efficiency in the public service. He said he is satisfied that even with the number of workers currently in the public sector, with a ten per cent increase in productivity, there can be a transformational difference in the economy.
“So for me, it is not just about numbers of employment alone, it is how do we get each officer who goes to work everyday to give of their best. What are the deficiencies in the system, not the individual officers, because if the system is bad you cannot expect officer to produce at optimum level. If the system does not recognise and give support to full engagement of the information and communication technology to deliver on services within the public sector, then we are going to continue to face not just a high wages bill, but the unit cost of production is going to be continuously high within the public sector,” Inniss said.
(AH)