The Government of Jamaica has signed a 12-month Heads of Agreement for a four per cent increase in wages and allowances for the contract period April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, to members of the Jamaica Teacher’s Association (JTA) and the Jamaica Police Federation.
With this agreement, the GOJ has now concluded wage agreements with bargaining groups and unions representing over 98 per cent of public servants.
This paves the way to begin the implementation of the public sector compensation restructuring in the new fiscal year.
In addition, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, in his remarks at the brief ceremony at the Ministry in Kingston held last evening said that the Administration “is pleased that we have been able to reach an accommodation with the JTA”.
“It is with the understanding that we are in a pandemic, and we plan in the next fiscal year, to begin the implementation of the restructuring of public-sector compensation,” said Clarke.
The compensation review is intended to overhaul the structure of salaries and other emoluments in the public service to make them more equitable.
Dr Clarke also noted that Jamaica is one of the few countries in this region that offered increases in both 2020 and 2021, during the pandemic.
“There are many countries in our region where they had difficulty even paying current bills, let alone offering increases. So, we have to be thankful for that, as well,” he noted.
The Finance Minister also reiterated his commitment to working with the JTA “over the upcoming [financial] year on the restructuring of public-sector compensation in a way that inures to the benefit of teachers today and in the future”.
JTA President, Winston Smith, said that the teachers will always put the interest of the country at the forefront.
He noted that teachers “must exist within the economic framework within which a country operates, and therefore, we are expecting that as we move beyond this point that our discussions and compensation will be more aligned with what the fiscal reality of the country is, as it relates to our salary and inflation rates”.
