Leaders must meet with people to find solutions

There seems to be a developing unease between the labour movement and the State, particularly with concerns of job loss and salary increase, so much so that a march is carded for August 4.

The announcement by the Opposition Leader of the Moody’s report dated June 30, which is alleged to have stated a substantial cut in public sector wages by year’s end, did not fall on deaf ears and the working class is growing weary of the feeling that pertinent information is being withheld continuously and deliberately.

No one wants to wake up one morning and have swift changes to their financial situation without preparation.

The heart of the issue, therefore, is lack of proper communication via inadequate information, which gives way to suspicion and undermines the primary tenet of the collective bargaining process, which is good faith.

The last salary increase which public sector workers received was for the period 2011 to 2013. Therefore, public officers are trying to run entire households on 2013 salaries in the year 2017, with the cost of living having drastically risen, making the purchasing power of that dollar seem like a joke. It is exceedingly difficult for the middle class working person, who almost always seems to be the sacrificial lamb.

Many have taken note of a shrinking middle class and are just hoping that it doesn’t get much slimmer or disappear altogether.

Businesses are struggling to stay afloat and people are pinching their pockets prior to making any purchase. The contraction of money floating in the economy is noticeable and worrisome as it appears that things will only worsen.

The public sector “is” the government because without that broad band of workforce, the administrative processes necessary to deliver daily resources and services to the citizenry and make good on the State’s election promises would be practically impossible.

Yet how much longer salaries can be sustained “is anyone’s guess.” Only prudent management would ensure that the services rendered by the public sector are adequately compensated for and continued to bring forth the manifestation of practical and tangible goods and services directly to the population. Ministers and Members of Parliament draft the legislation but it is the workers who execute those policies. These two entities must therefore work hand in hand, since one is necessary for the other to deliver, lest we all end up in a failed state.

The importance of a well oiled and properly functioning public sector cannot be understated or underestimated. In order to prevent the streets of the capital being flooded with numbers of disgruntled workers and citizens alike, elected representatives must come out to meet the people and carefully listen to their concerns.

They must effect meaningful change to avert any impending unrest in these troubling social and economic times the world over.

For the decision makers, now is indeed the right time — to listen.

LORREN MEDFORD-PRYCE via email