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ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, November 23, 2018 (CMC) – The Grenada government says it has invited trade unions to return to the negotiating table, to discuss the payment of pension and gratuity to retiring public workers.
In a letter sent to several trade unions and associations, including the Grenada Union of Teachers (GUT, the Public Workers Union (PWU) as well as the Prison Officers Welfare Association, Police Welfare Association and Police Gazetted Officers Association, the government said it is prepared to hold talks, today.
The government and the unions and staff associations are at loggerheads over the amount to be paid to retiring public servants. The Keith Mitchell administration is insisting on a two percent figure, but the other stakeholders are demanding a 25 percent offer.
The Roman Catholic Church has called on all parties to return to the table for talks, after school children took to the streets, yesterday, in support of teachers returning to the classrooms.
Bishop Clyde Harvey said that the presence of school children on the roads has taken the situation “to a new level”.
“When our children find it necessary to take the streets on matters political and social, we adults must know we are failing them in some way,” Bishop Harvey said in a statement.
He said that over the past few weeks, Grenada has “experienced political turmoil unknown in recent years”, and that “the sounds and sights of young people on streets take the situation to a new level”.
In the letter to the stakeholders, the government said it expresses its “interest in engaging in fresh negotiations that address all the factors, to determine the best formula for the advanced pension payment that does not compromise the fiscal rules,” according to an official statement issued here.
It said the letter, which was signed by Mrs. Beryl Isaac, Chairman of the Pension Engagement Committee, said “Government, in its letter, dated November 20th 2018, informed of its willingness to re-engage on the issue of advanced pension payment, and in good faith, has set aside the two per cent advanced pension payment as previously proposed”.
It added that the “gratuity is not determined by a mere rate, but rather, the value is predicated on an agreed rate along with other factors”.
“While a rate is the matter of contention at this point, the government says it is prepared to discuss any rate with the clear understanding that it cannot be divorced from the other factors,” the statement added.
There has so far been no response from the stakeholders to the latest government position.
