Senior Reporter
dareece.polo@guardian.co.tt
Some 20,000 daily-rated public-sector workers could begin receiving their new salaries this month after Cabinet ratified a ten per cent wage agreement between the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) and the Chief Personnel Officer.
CPO Dr Daryl Dindial told Guardian Media yesterday that the administrative process to implement the agreement is now under way.
“Cabinet recently ratified that agreement. That agreement also treats with the offsetting of arrears of 40 per cent cash and 60 per cent non-cash. So, that has been settled and the administrative processes have begun to put the new salaries for the NUGFW. We are hopeful it happens in this month, September of this month, the last month of this financial year.”
Signed at the end of March, the agreement covers the 2014–2016 and 2017–2019 bargaining periods and provides for a ten per cent wage increase.
The settlement is expected to cost the State about $2.6 billion in backpay and add approximately $252 million annually to the public-sector wage bill.
Under the arrangement, about $1 billion, or 40 per cent of the arrears, will be paid in cash, while the remaining $1.56 billion will be settled through non-cash measures.
The latest development follows concerns raised by the NUGFW last month over delays in implementing the agreement, with president Christopher Streete lamenting that “somebody dropped the ball”.
The CPO had previously indicated that the new salaries were expected to take effect in June or July, with the first tranche of arrears also expected to be paid during 2026.
Attempts by Guardian Media to contact Streete for comment were unsuccessful up to the time of publication.
