The Government Negotiation Team (GNT) is responsible for all wage disputes between employees and the government. Some unions are of the view that the GNT is operating at too slow of a pace when considering the appeals made by employees.

Labour Minister Dr Albert-Poyotte says the government is acutely aware of the situation and is working towards resolving employees’ concerns.

“If you do not deal with salary increases or conditions of service in a timely way, the employees will be disadvantaged. So the Prime Minister has asked the negotiating team to speed up the process. However, the team was waiting for some policy decisions from the Prime Minister and myself,” she explained.

An important aspect of the negotiation process, she disclosed, was the financial burden on the government.

“So they are clear on the direction that they have to go, especially in areas where there are a lot of different allowances that the employees were asking for. We had to factor that into what that would mean for the government in terms of finances.”

The Minister also disclosed that negotiations are at an advanced stage.