Unions Urged to Approach Negotiations for MOU3 With Spirit of Goodwill

Minister of Finance and Public Service, Audley Shaw, has charged unions representing public sector workers to approach negotiations for the third Memorandum of Understanding (MoU 3) with a spirit of goodwill, and emerge from the process with a broader agreement that will encourage social partnership and productivity.
“I encourage you to let’s go forward with goodwill knowing that the decisions that we take collectively, will go down to our mutual benefit and building of a better country,” the Minister stated at a press briefing held yesterday (Jan. 31) at the Ministry’s National Heroes Circle office to launch the negotiations between the Government and trade unions. He conceded that while emoluments and other work-related issues will be paramount in the discussions, “I would like to encourage that as we have these very important discussions, that we embrace the issue of productivity, that we put on the table, how can we become a more efficient public sector, how can we deliver services more efficiently to the people of Jamaica. I would like notions of this kind of productivity in these discussions.”
He further challenged the negotiators to consider how they can integrate into the discussions “a set of specific measurable performance objectives”.
The Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) will bargain on behalf of a number of member and non-member unions and associations representing the country’s public service workers during the negotiation process, which got underway yesterday. Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and Public Service, Senator Dwight Nelson, who is leading the Government’s team, said he expects that the negotiations will be completed by the end of February.