The special tribunal of the Industrial Court, assigned the task of resolving the current public sector wage dispute, is scheduled to begin proceedings on May 23. The matter, involving the Public Service Association (PSA) and the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Stephanie Lewis, was sent to the tribunal last Friday by Finance Minister Winston Dookeran. The referral complied with Section 17 of the Civil Service Act which requires the Minister of Finance to refer the matter to the tribunal within 21 days once no agreement has been reached between the parties on the matter of revised salaries and Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
PSA president Watson Duke spoke to reporters yesterday outside the Port-of-Spain Industrial Court after the initial session of the tribunal to decide the start date of the matter. Duke said: "We (PSA) are looking optimistically at a favourable and speedy end to the dispute. "The CPO and the PSA must now sit and continue the discussion of our items, so when it comes before the tribunal it will be either the entire collective agreement in dispute or part of it." When asked about future action by the PSA, Duke said there were many other problems in the public service to deal with besides wage increases. He said those included health and safety concerns and the "sick" buildings in which state offices were housed.
Under Section 66 of the Industrial Court Act and Section 69 of the Industrial Relations Act, public servants are not allowed to take industrial action against matters that are before the tribunal. It is chaired by Vernon Ashby, of the Essential Services Division of the Industrial Court, and two other members from that division, which may include Judy Rajkumar-Gualbance, Victoria Harrigin or Lawrence Achong. This will be decided before the tribunal begins. Lewis declined to comment after she left yesterday's session.
After her initial proposal of 0-0-1 per cent increase was rejected by the PSA on March 1 a final offer of five per cent (2-1-2) increase was made by Dookeran.
That included the consolidation of the existing COLA and the provision of a lump sum payment of $2,000 for the period January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010. Dookeran said the offer was made in light of "current economic realities which face T&T and the need to stabilise the economy and encourage growth." There have been 14 meetings between Lewis and the PSA between October 2010 and this month with the PSA maintaining its demand for a greater wage increase than the five per cent offered.
