Police Seeking Overtime Pay in Wage Negotiations

The Police Welfare Association (PWA) is pushing for overtime pay as a key demand in its ongoing salary negotiations with the government.

PWA President Cameron Laure disclosed this as the association awaits a return to the negotiating table with the Government Negotiating Team (GNT), following a decision by its members at a meeting on Monday.

Earlier that day, the Office of the Prime Minister issued a press statement announcing that the agreement reached between the GNT and the Trade Union Federation (TUF) for a 13 per cent pay increase for public sector workers had been approved by Cabinet. However, the statement acknowledged that negotiations were still ongoing with some unions and associations.

When Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre first announced the wage increase last December, the PWA was among the associations that said they had not yet reached agreement.

Reaffirming this stance, Laure told St Lucia Times on Tuesday: “Our position, as given to us by our members at our general meeting on Monday, is to write to the employer through the negotiating team, asking them to return to the negotiating table to renegotiate the proposal that we put forward at our meeting before the last.”

A key issue raised by the association is the lack of compensation for overtime work.

“Sometimes we work in excess of 96 hours for a week or more and are being asked for this to be gratis and forgo any form of compensation. No, we are asking for compensation for overtime pay in one form or another,” Laure said.

The association is also concerned about salary disparities between police officers and firefighters in similar grades.

Laure emphasised that at no point did the PWA accept the government’s proposed wage increase.

The association has formally written to the GNT outlining its position and is awaiting a response.

“If we do not receive a response by Friday – and depending on the response or lack thereof – we will decide how to proceed,” Laure warned.

The agreement between the GNT and the TUF covers members of the Saint Lucia Civil Service Association, Saint Lucia Fire Service Association, Saint Lucia Medical and Dental Association, Saint Lucia Nurses Association, Saint Lucia Teachers Union, and the Vieux Fort Dock and General Workers Union.

Under the terms of the agreement, public sector workers represented by these six TUF affiliates will receive salary increases of six per cent for the 2022–2025 period and seven per cent for 2025–2028. The back pay, which will be tax-free, is scheduled for disbursement next month.