Opposition Conflicted on Parliamentarian Salary Hike

The Opposition People’s National Party, PNP, appears to be at odds over the latest move by the government to increase Parliamentarian salaries by more than 200 per cent following several decades without a raise. The Spokesman on Finance on Tuesday welcomed the increase while recommending the government moves with alacrity to fix the anomalies with compensation in other areas of public service. However, a statement from the Party’s general secretary hours later objected to the massive increase and urged the Government of Jamaica, GOJ, to return to negotiations with the public sector unions before satisfying the needs of the political class.

However, it appears Robinson did not speak for the whole when he made those initial remarks. Hours later a statement from the opposition PNP notes the Party’s disagreement with the salary hike while urging the Government of Jamaica to instead revisit wage talks with the public sector unions. The Party strongly objected to the “massive salary increases for cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament” adding it was a decision taken without consultation. It states the Jamaica Labour Party, JLP, led government sought their non-objection on a decision already made despite what it called a flawed compensation restructuring that left several critical groups feeling undervalued. 

The Party is urging the government to fix the flaws of those public servants before attending to the interest of the political class. Watch the report:

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