Representatives of the government and the leadership of organized labour agreed on Thursday to a 15% cost of living allowance effective July 1, a slight reduction from the earlier proposed 20% by organized labour.
The government party was represented by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Ministries of Labour and Employment, Education, Finance, and National Security, while organized labor was represented by identifiable unions and associations within the public services.
Following the agreement on the 15% COLA, organised labour is expected to call off any existing or intended strike with immediate effect.
The pressing of the demand for the COLA began when four teacher and educational worker unions announced a nationwide strike for pre-tertiary schools. This was followed by similar agitations and threats from the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) and four joint health sector unions.
A meeting between the government and the teacher unions on Tuesday was inconclusive following the government’s directive to the unions to discontinue strike action while the parties negotiated their demands—a move which triggered a walk out by the teacher unions.
