PSA want 3-3-9 for public servants

The Public Services Association (PSA) used monday — Budget Day — to signal to Government that it wants a 15 percent increase and nothing less for public servants for the period 2002-2004. Members of the PSA’s Executive and General Council were in the public gallery of the Red House appealing for the increase. However, they did so quietly with their message boldly printed on placards attached to their chests. The PSA has been in negotiations with the Chief Personnel Officer for the past four months and only one percent separates them.

Speaking to the media after Prime Minister Patrick Mannings’s 2004 Budget presentation in Parliament yesterday, PSA President Jennifer Baptiste-Primus said that the Prime Minister he indicated that the economy is going extremely well and the PSA agreed. “We believe public officers deserve more than 15 percent but we will settle for 15 for the period 2002-2004.” She said the silent demonstration was intended to be a strong signal to Government that the public service is an important sector in society.