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Jamaican police officers stage mass sick-outs to demand higher wages

Xinhua, June 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Numerous members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) failed to report to duty Tuesday in a wage policy dissension with the government.

Assistant Police Commissioner Assan Thompson said some 1,000 rank-and-file members, or about 10 percent of the JCF staff, took sick leaves on Monday. This is considered as a response to the Police Federation's recent call for a five-day protest against the government's wage offer.

After a multi-year wage freeze for public sector workers ended this March, the Ministry of Finance and Planning has proposed a 6.5 percent wage increase for the JCF members this year and another 5.5 percent increase in 2016.

However, the Police Federation demanded a 100-percent hike, according to local daily the Gleaner.

The wage dispute between the government and the police union eventually resulted in the massive sick-outs, which have crippled several police stations in the island nation's capital, Kingston, and its second most populated city, Spanish Town.

Proceedings at the Supreme Court were affected as prisoners could not be brought to the court due to the absence of police officers.

To secure the social order, authorities had no choice but to send scores of cadets from police schools to fill the stations, which are short of hands. Defense forces were also summoned to carry out the duties of police forces.

Police Commissioner Carl Williams appealed to his fellows to resume their duties.

"We are all aware of the difficult wage negotiations that have been progressing and the High Command has pledged its full support to do all that we can do to achieve improved compensation and working conditions for the federated ranks," he said.

Minister of National Security Peter Bunting called on the Police Federation to return to the negotiating table instead of taking industrial action that would adversely affect society.

"This behavior is not appropriate for an essential service. It exposes the public to unnecessary risk and may damage the professional image of the JCF that has seen significant improvements in recent years," he said.

"The ministry stands ready to assist the negotiations between the Police Federation and the Ministry of Finance and Planning once this action is discontinued and all sides return to the bargaining table," he said.

At the same time the JCF members staged the massive sick leave, Opposition Spokesman on National Security Derrick Smith revealed that 476 people had been killed in Jamaica since the start of this year, marking a 15 percent increase compared with the same period of last year.

Smith said that though he understood the wage dispute, the JCF members and the police union should have assessed the likely aftermath before they adopted the industrial action. Endi