Public sector groups cautioned not to expect significant wage increases

With government and public sector groups scheduled to commence wage negotiations in a matter of weeks, they are being cautioned not to expect any significant increases.
  
Ralston Hyman, a member of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC), has said there is no room for any large scale increase for public sector workers given the country's financial situation.
  
Mr. Hyman, who is an economist, said the government must meet wage to GDP targets and find money to fund the second phase of the income tax plan.

"The president of the civil service association is arguing that he does not want to see any massive reduction in the (GDP) numbers, but at the same time he's saying that he wants to see a large wage increase - the two are not consistent," Mr. Hyman asserted.

He was speaking at Thursday's public forum at the Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Union Education Institute at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.

Meanwhile, Fayval Williams, State Minister in the Ministry of Finance, who was at the function, declined to give details on what public sector workers could expect when their trade unions meet with the government.

"We don't want to preempt anything... but there's a lot of transparency in the figures, and when you look at it, you can come to some reasonable conclusion," she said. 

In the meantime, Dr. Wayne Henry, head of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), said the country has, in the past, not met targets to reduce wages as a per cent of GDP. He cited lack of economic growth as a factor.
  
He said the focus is now on reversing that trend, but he appealed for public sector workers to remain patient in order to "realise the positive outcomes" of their sacrifices.