The Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) is lamenting that the Skerrit-led administration has remained mute over the call for salary increment since after the December 6, 2019, general elections. DPSU General Secretary, Thomas Letang, said the government took the union’s call for salary increment very seriously before the elections, but has remained silent over it since they won the elections.
Letang recalled that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said he favoured reclassification over salary increment, but the former emphasized that salary increment and job reclassification are two separate things that should not be merged together. He insisted that reclassification should not take the place of salary increment in any way that would amount to government deception and fraud.
“Government has not made any offer to public officers [yet],” Letang said. “We have been asking for a 13% salary increase and government has not responded. The last thing we heard was that government was thinking of reclassification but we have made it very, very clear that classification exercise and salary negotiations are two separate issues.”
Letang said the Public Service Act provides that civil servants can demand salary increment and other employment benefits every three years and that the timeframe for having increment is already overdue by so much. He said talks with the government over this issue remains at a standstill, and that the DLP government has provided any explanations for the breakdown of negotiations or offered public workers any rewarding alternative.
“We’re expecting public officers to be paid a salary increase and if there is any talk about classification, that can take place at some other time because classification is going to take some time,” Letang said. “The last time a classification exercise was done was about six years ago and things have changed so what are they going to implement? They’re saying one thing and doing another.”
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