The Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) has announced a 1.25% salary increment for public servants starting from July 1. DPSU General Secretary Thomas Letang said the salary increment is part of a 3-year wage agreement negotiated with the government.
According to Letang, the 3-year period covered under the salary increment agreement is from 2018 to 2021 in which the 1.25% increase applies to the first year, a one-month salary payment for the second year, and no increase whatsoever for the third year.
Letang said DPSU could have negotiated for higher wages and salaries for public workers, but noted that the economy is struggling in the face of the raging COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Hurricane Maria catastrophe. He said the hurricane and the pandemic occasioned the closure of many businesses across Dominica and this has impacted the revenue of the government in a big way.
“In spite of what people may think, we believe that the economy is not in a good shape,” Letang said. “The fact [is] that we haven’t had any new industry, a number of businesses have closed in recent times and we were impacted by Covid-19 and Hurricane Maria.”
Another part to the DPSU-government salary review agreement is that the government agreed to donate $250,000 and $300,000 to DPSU’s medical fund and education fund respectively. Letang further revealed that the government also consented to giving $100,000 to the union’s fund which is used to provide soft loans to eligible workers. Additionally, the sum of $20,000 will be contributed every year to enable DPSU train its members on improved work ethics and efficiency.
The DPSU general secretary also stated that the government will get parliament to pass a bill that will improve sick, study, and vacation leaves among others for non-established public workers before July. Letang expressed joy that no Dominican has lost his jobs recently and hoped that it will remain this way for a long time to come.
This article is copyright © 2021 DOM767
