Gov’t And JTA Sign Wage Agreement
By: , February 22, 2022
Photo: Michael Sloley
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke (centre) and Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President, Winston Smith, display the signed Heads of Agreement for wage increases for teachers, during a brief ceremony at the Ministry in Kingston on Monday (February 21). At left is State Minister, Hon. Marsha Smith.
Photo: Michael Sloley
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke (right), is in discussion with Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President, Winston Smith, following the signing of the Heads of Agreement, formalising the Government’s four per cent wage offer to teachers for April 2021 to March 2022. The signing ceremony was held at the Ministry in Kingston on Monday (February 21).
Photo: Michael Sloley
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke (centre) along with (from left) State Minister, Hon. Marsha Smith and Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President, Winston Smith, sign the Heads of Agreement for wage increases for teachers, during a brief ceremony at the Ministry in Kingston on Monday (February 21).The Full Story
The Government, and the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) have signed a 12-month Heads of Agreement for a four per cent increase in wages and allowances for the contract period April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, in his remarks at the brief ceremony at the Ministry in Kingston on Monday (February 21), said that the Administration “is pleased that we have been able to reach an accommodation with the JTA”.
“It is with the understanding that we are in a pandemic, and we plan in the next fiscal year, to begin the implementation of the restructuring of public-sector compensation,” he pointed out.
The compensation review is intended to overhaul the structure of salaries and other emoluments in the public service to make them more equitable.
Dr. Clarke noted that Jamaica is one of the few countries in this region that offered increases in both 2020 and 2021, during the pandemic.
“There are many countries in our region where they had difficulty even paying current bills, let alone offering increases. So, we have to be thankful for that, as well,” he noted.
The Finance Minister said he is committed to working with the JTA “over the upcoming [financial] year on the restructuring of public-sector compensation in a way that inures to the benefit of teachers today and in the future”.
JTA President, Winston Smith, said that the teachers will always put the interest of the country at the forefront.
He noted that teachers “must exist within the economic framework within which a country operates, and therefore, we are expecting that as we move beyond this point that our discussions and compensation will be more aligned with what the fiscal reality of the country is, as it relates to our salary and inflation rates”.