Public Officers Raise Concerns With P.S.U. President Over Unfrozen Increments

Dean Flowers

Flowers and Minister Usher engaged public officers on the reinstatement of increments. According to Flowers, while legislation has been passed through the National Assembly, the Ministry of Public Service did not issue a circular authorizing finance officer to approve the payment of increments due.  According to Flowers, Minister Usher committed to rectifying the omission.

Dean Flowers, President, P.S.U.

“As it relates to increments, we had some discussion around that. And as we explained to public offices, the reinstatement of increments effective April first, the legislation has gone to the House has passed. But I think that there was a misstep. Sorry, that’s that might not be the best word. There was an omission by the Ministry of Public Service to put out a circular for finance officers to affect the payment of those increments. And so what we got from public officers is that the finance officers were saying, well, you know, a few finance officers were saying that they had not received instructions to effect the payment of those increments. But what is what is important is that the legislation has passed for them to be reinstated. And the minister committed to the issuing of a circular for so that finance officers would then affect those increments for those individuals who have an increment date of April first and then, of course, on May first and of course, had to explain to them that those increments will correspond to the financial year 2022- 2023 because, of course, there is this notion that increments were frozen in the month of May under the administration in 2020. And what we have to explain to them is that. In 2020 when Barrow froze increments that he took away those increments, he did not freeze those increments, and if they look at the circle, I believe it’s 5 of 2020, that speaks of a foregone increment. So that’s an increment that we will have to negotiate, going forward with the joint unions, also the 2021-2022 increment that is a frozen increments under this administration. And this administration has already committed that they are prepared to reinstate that increment in the upcoming fiscal year provided that we could put together the criteria and economic criteria based on the economic performance of the government finances, for that increment to be reinstated in the upcoming fiscal year or any time before.”