Grenada, CMC – The Grenada government says it is moving to prevent trade unions from taking strike action as the situation regarding the amount of gratuity and pension to be paid to public workers escalated on Tuesday.
A government statement said that the Keith Mitchell administration is moving to “protect people’s health care at the General Hospital and other facilities should top medical officials join a call for industrial action by the Grenada Public Workers Union (GPWU).
Filing injunction
The statement said the Ministry of Legal Affairs is preparing to file an injunction against any strike in the healthcare services sector, noting that “there are restrictions on industrial action in essential services such as the health sector.”
Country could lose millions
Earlier, Trade Minister Oliver Joseph said that the country could lose millions of dollars (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) in grants from aid donors if it agrees to the demands from trade unions for a more than two per cent in gratuity and pensions to workers.
The unions, representing teachers and public workers are seeking a 25 per cent pension for workers but Joseph told a news conference that the amount breaches the Fiscal Responsibility Legislation.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act puts a cap of nine per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) overall on the amount government can assign for salaries, wages and other expenditure per year.
The chairperson of the Grenada government Pension Engagement Committee (GPEC), Beryl Isaac, has already said the position of the trade unions “seriously breaches” the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
“Any pension plan must have two basic features – it must be sustainable and affordable. Let us be clear, the gratuity payment of EC$75,000 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) in the above example, has to be repaid by the retiree through monthly deductions of EC$500 for 12.5 years from his or her pension,” she said, adding “this is why when a gratuity is paid, the monthly pension of the worker is reduced.
The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) through Opposition Senator, Ron Redhead said the party was calling “for the repeal and replacement of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and Comprehensive labor reforms, including improvements to the current attrition policy among other measures that may be counterproductive to good relations between the government of Grenada and all its public officers.”
On Monday, the GPWU called on public workers to remain off the jobs for the next two days saying it would be using “the first 48 hours to remain at home to calculate their gratuity to determine why we should sacrifice and work ourselves into poverty with two per cent”.
It said it was calling on “all public workers…to remain at home on Tuesday, November 13 and Wednesday November 14….until further instructions are given by our union”.
Prepared to escalate industrial action
The Grenada Union of Teachers (GUT) which said it was pleased with the response shown by teachers to its call to stay away from work last week, said the teachers were prepared to escalate its industrial action “if we have to.”
The Union said it would only “resume normal industrial relations when the government of Grenada becomes serious about its commitments made pre 2018 elections as we seek to ensure a decent level of living for our retired workers, past and present”.
The government statement said that the court injunction could be filed before the end of the week amid concerns that “the health care of ordinary Grenadians could be compromised by action that is not legal under the labor statutes.”
