An agreement has been reached with the Negotiation Team with respect to various unions and the negotiations body of the Government that some government servant allowances will be raised. This relates to clothing, transportation, the job site, and the secondment allowance. In October of last year, the negotiations came to an end. The allowances have not yet, though, been paid out.
The resolutions have not yet been signed, according to Michael Miskin, chairman of the Council of National Service Organizations, in a conversation with the media. The Ministry of the Interior must receive these after being drafted by several ministries. Last month, he brought this to the attention of President Chan Santokhi. In a letter to his colleagues in January, Minister Stanley Raghoebarsing of Finance & Planning requested that they organize the resolutions.
Since 2012, no adjustments have been made to the allowances. Even the residence and secondment allowance amounts date back to 2006. Between SRD 550 and SRD 900 was given as the clothes allowance. There has been an adjustment between SRD 1,500 and SRD 2,500. Location and secondment compensation increased from SRD 90 to SRD 450. Between SRD 100 and SRD 600 was the transport allowance. Between SRD 348 and SRD 2,616 more have been added to this. The IB had pleaded with the unions to consent to these changes at this time.
Miskin points out that the allowances have been approximately SRD 20 for every US dollar since a deal was signed with the various unions, including CLO. It has now risen above SRD 35. The union leader has pleaded with the administration to actually pay the allowances in April. Also, it is awaiting the government’s negotiating committee to discuss civil worker salaries. They have requested a mandate from Minister Raghoebarsing to engage in salary talks.
