“This is the first unsettled settlement in history.”This is how Public Services Association (PSA) president Felisha Thomas yesterday described the challenges facing the trade union and its attempts to meet with the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO), Dr Daryl Dindial.Thomas made the comment in a Facebook post as she gave an update to members of the civil service, statutory authorities subject to the Statutory Authorities Act and the Tobago House of Assembly.
CPO: Dr Daryl Dindial
She wrote that the PSA had requested to meet with Dindial to advance efforts to finalise the settlement of outstanding negotiation arrears.Thomas stated that the CPO had said he was in no position to meet as his office was still considering the PSA’s counter proposal.She stated: “We are approaching two months since the submission of our counter proposal and eight months since signing.”She was referring to the signing last December of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), which secured a 10% salary increase for the workers but left the structural breakdown of the arrears package to be negotiated separately.Efforts to contact Thomas for more details were unsuccessful.Backpay packageIn a brief telephone interview yesterday, Dindial said he preferred not to comment on the ongoing negotiations because he did not want to compromise the integrity of the negotiations.The focus of the PSA and the CPO’s negotiations centres around the 10% salary agreement.The backpay spans the periods 2014 to 2016, and 2017 to 2019.On May 22, the CPO issued a final State position offering a mixed backpay package of 40% cash and 60% non-cash benefits valued at $3.8 billion, giving the union a four-week window to respond.A few days later, the PSA formally rejected the 40/60 proposal, and countered with a proposal requesting 60% in cash and 40% in non-cash or deferred options.Some of the non-cash benefits include the offsetting of Housing Development Corporation and Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Bank mortgage and rental obligations, settlement of outstanding tax liabilities, executive medical coverage valued at $3,500, offsetting tuition fees at State-owned institutions, tax exemptions on the purchase of new and roll-on/roll-off vehicles, as well as food cards and fuel assistance.
