We also heard from Sharon Fraser, President of the Association of Public Service Senior Managers, who laid out a timeline of the Joint Union Negotiation Team’s talks with the government. According to Fraser, the unions have never been rigid about the eight-point-five percent salary cut. But what they can’t accept are the conditions tied to the government’s latest proposal. She says it’s not just about numbers; it’s about fairness. Here’s more from her remarks at today’s press conference.
Sharon Fraser, President, Association of Public Service Senior Managers
“They indicated that after this long speech about being responsible and we need to look after everybody, not just public sector workers, we got to the point where we were offered four, four, no, it increased by one to four percent for October this year. And the other four and a half in the following two years. So three years, nothing changed. Well, that’s what was the offer. And the issue with the increment remained the same. But what caught our eyes was the fact that in the letter and in bold capital letters, it said subject to, and I heard, and I have respect for the Minister of State, and I heard him on another media, in a media house saying that, in fact, I got it wrong because if you are putting “subject to” in capital letters, it is to catch my attention and it’s to tell me that everything that follows, it depends on. But maybe, it was different law school I gone. Maybe, because he said that is not the case. It was subject to pension reform. So, to get any of the things above, which was the four and the four and a half and the increments, it was subject to pension reform.”
