Higher salaries demanded

First Division officers from the police, fire, prisons and army will meet this Thursday in an emergency meeting to discuss what has been termed the failure of the Chief Personnel Officer to re-classify the salaries of first division officers from the rank of Assistant Commissioner to Assistant Superintendents.

President of the Police First Division, Assistant Police Commissioner Peter John said yesterday that the emergency meeting was called because all first division officers are disgruntled over their current salaries. ACP John pointed out that his association has been trying to get the CPO to do a re-classification of salaries for first division officers since 1992 but the request continues to be placed on the back burner. He added that last Wednesday, 97 members of the Police First Division met at Police Headquarters to discuss the situation and all the officers at the meeting expressed concern over their salaries.

John said that the situation has reached an acute stage where all first divisions have agreed to join forces to ensure that their demands for better salaries are addressed. He noted that the Salaries Review Commission reviewed the salaries of the Police Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioners twice, and the association has been literally begging the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) to do a re-classification of all other senior ranks. The salary of the Commissioner moved recently from $10,000 to $19,000, while the salaries of the two Deputy Commissioners moved to $16,500.

Assistant Commissioners of Police receive salaries of just under $8,000. “We are agitated over the wide gap in salaries and we are no longer prepared to sit idly by and hope that the CPO addresses our plights,” said ACP John. He added that retroactivity is another issue which is also on the cards to be discussed. “We will have to decide on the course of action to take, if the CPO continues to take us for granted, and several first division officers are retiring into poverty,” said ACP John. The salaries of officers from the rank of Deputy Commissioner and the Commissioner are decided by the Salaries Review Commission, while the salaries of officers from Assistant Commissioners to constables are negotiated by the CPO.