Public officers to get deferred 4% rise as of August 2021

Grenada: Prime of small Caribbean Island country Grenada Dr Keith Mitchell has revealed that the Ministry of Finance will be making significant increase adjustments to public servants salary as of August 2021 – 7 months after it had become due.

While addressing the handing over ceremony of a pre-school in his constituency of St George’s Northwest last Friday, Prime Minister said, “Not only teachers, but every single public servant will get their salary increase. EC$1.2 million in addition to their salaries .”

He added, “They will be getting that right on until the end of the agreement in 2022.”

To the first seven months of the year, an ultimate decision is yet to be made, but trade unions representing public officers have confirmed that the Government’s Negotiating Team has allowed bonds instead of cash at an interest rate of 3%. The offer is yet under negotiation.

As the last quarter of 2020, the Government wrote to the unions urging for the 4% interest in salary, which was programmed to commence as of January 2021, to be deferred. The unions objected and since then, several ongoing industrial actions such as demonstration marches and vigil demanding the rise to their salaries.

Grenadian government stated that it is inadequate to pay because of the reduction in revenue triggered by the multiple mechanisms put in place to control and contain the spread of coronavirus. These measures constitute a state of emergency with a curfew as well as locking down the country from international commercial passenger traffic between March and June 2020.

PM Mitchell said that in recent months revenue had been firmly increasing, and he does not expect payment to be disrupted until the conclusion of the current collective agreement, which expires in 2022.

A summary of the fiscal reports from the Ministry of Finance of Grenada for the period March to May 2021 has shown a constant increase in revenue collection. Current Revenue for May 2021 was $57.7 million, which was $3.2 million more than the May 2021 target, and $11.1 million more than the collections for May 2020.

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