EPOC Highlights Risk of Protracted Public Sector Negotiations

The Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC), released a statement highlighting the risks of the protracted public sector negotiations, public sector compensation review, and rationalisation after decades of promised transformation of the public sector.

EPOC is calling for negotiations to be concluded swiftly or risk possible breakdowns in industrial relationships. The statement indicated that EPOC had recommended to the GOJ in a past communique that the wages and salaries to GDP rule be reviewed and amended. Noting that public sector negotiations are at a critical stage as over 60% of the public bodies have signed off on new wage agreements; however, there remains a number of major groups outstanding inclusive of critical essential service groups which make up approximately 30% of the public sector.

Which ends on march 31, 2023. The implication of this is that if negotiations are not completed within the next week or some binding legal agreement is not made with those outstanding bodies the balances cannot be carried forward into next year and there will have to be some agreement made to defer or stretch the current year payments not expensed over a period of time. Watch the report:

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