Chicot
(SNO) — The Police Welfare Association (PWA) has put on hold a planned Independence boycott and will meet with the government to discuss outstanding wage negotiations.
The negotiations are expected to come to an end in March and members of the PWA had reportedly planned to exclude themselves from this year’s Independence celebration if an agreement was not reached with the Government Negotiating Team (GNT).
But PWA President, Travis Chicot, told HTS that the association will “not rush the process” while it believes that it needs to get down to the bottom of the negotiating process.
He said he is willing to take the blame to push a meeting with the government to February 25.
“I may take flak on it,” Chicot told HTS. “Persons have called it political, persons have called it being in the pockets of the commissioner. It is what it is.”
He made it clear that he was not influenced by any individual in making the decision.
“However, I have said if there are implications for such action, I am prepared,” he said.
He appealed to PWA members to remain focused.
“There are benefits, as I’ve written to the GNT, that is very important to a police officer,” he stated. “Accepting monies or taking a quick fix or rushing is not the way forward. Let us sit at the tables because we’ve always been in good faith. I call on the members to be patient, to understand what we are going for and I guarantee you, I guarantee you, that if we are driving the point home for our benefits we will enjoy those benefits.”
(1)
(0)The post Independence boycott by St. Lucia police deterred: “I call on the members to be patient” appeared first on St. Lucia News Online.