“If you go to the staff orders, it says the normal working hours for public servants are 37.5 hours a week. We don’t get paid overtime,” explained President of the Police Welfare Association, Cameron Laure.
The Police Welfare Association held a meeting of its members last week to discuss its progress with negotiations being had with the government regarding pay increases over a possible six-year period. The PWA had previously stated its position against the proposals being made by the Government Negotiation Team and would be one of only a few staff associations to reject the pay increase.
A present issue of contention for the PWA, he says, is overtime pay. “I’m sure the employer would not be able to pay us overtime. So, we’re not even asking for overtime at this point. But if it comes to that, it’s something that we will have to put on the table and ask the employer to devise a method of overtime for police officers if we have to continue working the way that we’re working and the number of hours that we’re putting in,” he explained.
Negotiations between the GNT and TUF came to a fruitful conclusion in December 2024. Negotiations also included discussions on salaries over two consecutive trienniums.
The Cabinet approved the terms of the agreement in January 2025. The first triennium commenced in 2022 and will conclude in 2025, during which salaries and wages for public servants will increase by 6%. In the second triennium, from 2025 to 2028, salaries will see a further increase of 7%.
Laure denies that the PWA’s rejection of the government’s offer as being politically motivated. According to him, only the voices of his membership guides his actions at President of the Welfare Association.
“I don’t cater to any politician, any political party at absolutely no time. The persons that are behind you, the members, these are the people who will drive me forward. These are the people who will give me a mandate and tell me what to do. Anybody else, nobody else can tell me what to do. The members will tell me what to do,” he contends.
The Trade Union Federation consists of six bargaining agents representing the interests of the more than 11 000 public servants who will benefit from the back pay.
These include the Saint Lucia Civil Service Association, the Saint Lucia Fire Service Association, the Saint Lucia Medical and Dental Association, the Saint Lucia Nurses Association, the Saint Lucia Teachers Union, and the Vieux-Fort Dock and General Workers Union.
The back pay is scheduled to be paid to public servants on February 20th 2025.
