Frustrated Workers Take To Down Town for Pay Increases

Scores of workers of the Bahamas Public Service Union gathered near Parliament Square advocating for pay increases, chanting “We want our money and we want it now.”

What happened

The group along with President Kimsley Ferguson is calling for salary increases and has accused the government of ‘union busting.’ He said the government is stalling negotiations and the union is still waiting for its industrial agreement to be signed.

While Down Town, he and other leaders of various unions in the country held a conversation with Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper but Ferguson said he was not satisfied and was “very disappointed”  in the government’s response.

“There is a serious case for concern when there is no integrity in the leadership of the country… There is no one to speak for the public servants,” he said.

Ferguson said he and the group will up the ante if the demands for increased pay are not met.

“We will continue to agitate until we get the results we want.”

Why it matters

The government has proposed annual increases for permanent secretaries, directors and department heads. The union says it shows that the government has sufficient funding to give public servants adequate increases.