JCSA urges members to ready for showdown as salary talks stall 14 months

The Jamaica Civil Servants Association (JCSA) has put its membership on notice that a confrontation with the Government may lie ahead if outstanding salary and related benefit matters are not resolved.

President Tisha Clark-Griffiths issued the warning on Thursday while addressing an awards ceremony for long-serving civil servants in Manchester. She recalled telling members in 2024 that the union would wait patiently on negotiations, but said nearly a year and a half later the Government has still not settled the association's claim.

"We have been 14 months outstanding in terms of having the government settle on our claim," Clark-Griffiths said. "So, I'm asking that we get ourselves ready for a showdown between the Civil Service Association and the government of Jamaica."

She said the union has not been able to conclude negotiations and pointed to a counter-offer from the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions covering a 14-month period outside the formal negotiating timeline. Public servants, she argued, are therefore owed 14 months of retroactive salary payments and deserve a concluded agreement so members can receive their increases.

Clark-Griffiths also stressed that any talk of productivity must consider the welfare of workers who keep schools, hospitals, libraries, ministries, agencies, departments and communities running. She said the JCSA, together with the Confederation, has told the Government it will no longer wait for action on salaries and other outstanding claims, including concessions.

She contended that the Government is moving slowly on the file even as it speaks about productivity, and said a more militant posture from public sector workers should not come as a surprise.

At the ceremony, 16 civil servants received awards for between 16 and 25 years of public service. Clark-Griffiths herself was presented with a special citation.