The chief personnel officer (CPO), Dr. Dayrl Dindial, says he met Tuesday with the executive of the Public Service Association (PSA) to formally sign the memorandum of agreement (MOA) for a 10 per cent increase in salaries and allowances for the period 2014-2019.
The CPO said that the MOA also includes the consolidation of the cost f living allowance for each triennium.
Dindial described the negotiations with the PSA as ‘memorable’ commending all parties for their perseverance throughout the process.
The PSO said that the signed agreement also includes adjustments to several categories of allowances, including meal allowance, travelling, house and transfer allowances as well as motor vehicle loan and the acquisition of light good vehicles for eligible officers within the Civil Service and Statutory authorities among other measures.
The 10 per cent salary increase had become a major topic during the campaign for the April 28 general election, when senior PSA official took to the platform of the United National Congress (UNC) in support of the then opposition party.
Dindial said he had agreed to continue to hold discussions with the PSA to determine the methods and timeliness for the settlement of the outstanding allowances and payment of arrears of salaries.
He appealed to all public officers to recommit to improving ‘the way we engage and serve the public’ adding ‘our citizens deserve nothing less’.
Meanwhile, Labour Minister, Leroy Baptiste, a former PSA president, said several other trade unions will have to live with the consequences of agreements they broker at the bargaining table amid reports that they were seeking to receive the 10 per cent offered to the PSA.
Baptiste said the PSA knew it was taking a gamble on the UNC and it has paid off, as he defended the Minister in the Ministry of Public Utilities Clyde Elder, anther trade unionist, who has come under attack for saying trade unions that accepted a four per cent wage increase from the then People’s National Movement (PNM) government of prime minister Dr. Keith Rowley, cannot now expect the same 10 per cent increase that the PSA is receiving.
‘I think you must be aware that the PSA would have been one of the unions that stood their ground and dealt with severe consequences,’ Baptiste said, adding ‘the members remain, up to now in 2025, with their 2013 salaries.
‘They negotiated, they made a decision and the decision had consequences. I could even go as far to say that the PSA would have spent a lot of money behind a decision going to court and all those type of things.’
Baptiste said unions that accepted the four per cent wage hike would also have to face the consequences of their decision.
‘When you make decisions there are consequences one way or the next. There were those who accepted it and therefore their members have more updated salaries. That is what negotiations are about – you gamble, you take risk, you make a decision and the consequences follow naturally.’
Baptiste said that the government has no legal obligation to renegotiate with other unions, saying ‘that will be entirely up to the Minister of Finance.
‘There is no legal basis for doing so. If you have the benchmark that pre-supposes that you have an outstanding negotiation and you are now coming to the table, if you have a signed agreement, you have a signed agreement.’
The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) president Crystal Ashe, while congratulating the PSA on the 10 per cent agreement, disagreed with Elder’s statement.
‘We are a non-political association. We don’t align ourselves politically with any party, but Mr Elder would have alluded to the fact that because the PSA took on such a great risk aligning themselves with a particular political party, it seems they are reaping the benefits of that now.
‘That should not be the basis of which any union or any association should be rewarded. At the end of the day we are all seeking the best for citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. It should be in the interest of any government to ensure that citizens are well taken care of.
He described Elder’s statements as ‘unfortunate,’ especially given his background in trade unionism.