Public-Sector Medical Consultants Sign Wage Agreement

Public-sector medical consultants have signed a Heads of Agreement with the Government for the 2015/2017 contract period.

Under the two-year wage agreement, they will receive a four per cent salary increase for year one and three per cent in year two.

The contract was signed today (September 2), at the Finance and the Public Service Ministry in Kingston.

The agreement calls for the specialist doctors to be paid the outstanding sums for the 2008/2010 contract period.

Minister of State with responsibility for the Public Service, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, in addressing the signing ceremony, said his Ministry has arrived at a payment plan that will begin in 2017.

“We plan to pay the doctors over four payment periods. They are going to be paid a sum of money in the first quarter next year and we will examine how the rest can be paid in a shorter time,” he said.

Mr. Spencer expressed satisfaction with the manner in which the doctors handled their negotiations, describing them as “strident, serious and not acrimonious”.

Meanwhile, President of the Association of Government Medical Consultants (AGMC), Dr. Konrad Lawson, said he is pleased at the resolution of the negotiations.

“We are truly happy to sign off on this. The process was long and bruising, but never rancorous,” he said.

Public-sector medical doctors, dentists, veterinarians and veterinary paramedics are the remaining groups of healthcare professionals to sign the Heads of Agreement for the 2015/2017 contract period with the Government.