Wage demands must be met with greater productivity
IN a recent piece I wrote that the novel coronavirus pandemic will force the global community to rethink many things that might have been taken for granted.
In the POST-COVID-19 world into which we seem to be entering, a lot of things will need to be — to use a popular and perhaps not-too-well-understood word — reimagined. The pandemic has caused profound dislocations in every facet of human life.
It is against this background that I have consistently argued that talk about returning to PRE-COVID normality is a whistle in the dark. Our lives have been radically altered and the sooner we accept this, the sooner we will be able to embark on new paradigms that can make our lives more livable. Some things will change for the better, some for the worse, but we certainly do not have the luxury of salivating for a past which we will never reclaim.
In no area will this become more evident than in industrial relations and the agitation of workers for better working conditions and compensation. The work environment is already undergoing a serious revolution as workers have become more emboldened and independent in their thinking. There is a new fesitiness causing workers to demand better as they realise how important and relevant their labour is to the very survival of the businesses for which they work.
This is already becoming obvious in several countries and it showed up in Jamaica last week in the slew of worker unrests that erupted in the country.
Can I ask you to keep a secret? Thanks. Expect more in the future.
Concomitantly, this is not a phenomenon which will affect the public sector exclusively. The private sector must gear up for its own share of worker demands.
Worker demand for better compensation will become a matter with which private sector managers will have to contend. The wise ones should not only anticipate this, but begin to put in place the machinery and resources to deal with it when the time comes. And it will come.
Let me indicate an important caveat in the agitation for wage increases in Jamaica. As workers aspire for better compensation, it must not be lost on the greater society that they do so in the context of the low productivity of the Jamaican worker. Year after year, research indicates that Jamaica seriously lags its Caribbean counterparts in worker productivity. Thus, workers cannot just clamour for wage increases without a desire to improve their offerings in the jobs they perform. Management must insist on continued education, training, and development of their staff to meet the new demand of work in a digitised environment.
Unions must become more conscious that worker productivity is not about just “eating a food”, but empowering the worker to demonstrate the best of what their talent is capable. This consciousness must be shorn of the political harness to which union representation in Jamaica is too tightly tethered.
Under great constraint, a Government can only do so much, which is why the Minister of Finance and the Public Sector Dr Nigel Clarke has appealed for restraint from public sector workers.
The Government has embarked on a comprehensive overhaul of public sector compensation that has never been attempted in the country. This will see a tremendous improvement on what now obtains when it comes to fruition. Although one urges patience, one is only too mindful that people are not in the mood to be too patient with the Government if things are allowed to drag on. The sustainability of the country’s finances always has to be at the top of any prudent government priorities, but public sector workers have suffered too long with inadequate compensation. We do, however, urge moderation, with fiscal prudence being the watchword.
POTHOLES, POTHOLES EVERYWHERE
Drive anywhere in Jamaica and you are likely to come up against an ever-present, almost perennial problem: potholes. There are some things that we do well in Jamaica and some that we do very poorly.
In the latter category is our callous disregard for the ongoing maintenance of our infrastructure, especially roads. In the last budget presentation, the Government indicated that it will be embarking on a massive road improvement and renovation drive. Some may say hooray about this but, to me, it indicates the extent to which we have been neglectful of any robust maintencance of our road and bridge infrastructure.
If we had been doing ongoing maintenance, there would not be this need for a massive programme.
There was a time in the past when Public Works Department (PWD) trucks could be seen routinely patching potholes in communities. This ensured that they did not become open ponds and thus pose a danger to the travelling public and higher expense to the public purse.
The cost of auto parts for vehicles has gone up astronomically and so has the increase in potholes across the country. There seems to be a direct correlation between these increased costs and the number of potholes in a country that the redoubtable former minister of government Bobby Pickersgill promised, in a burst of bravado, would be pothole free.
We can be pothole free, but it has to go beyond fulmination from politicians and knee-jerk reactions, such as the latest initiative by Government. We must do better.
BARBARA GLOUDON
This column notes with regret the death of the sterling, tenacious, and indomitable Barbara Gloudon. For decades, Gloudon stood as one of the most important icons of journalism in the country. Not only did she represent her craft well, both in the written and broadcast media, but she did so with a fearlessness and commitment to the truth that we often do not see in the practice of journalism.
With the death of her beloved Ancile, the family has been dealt a double blow in this incalculable loss. May they be comforted by the thought of lives well lived with great utility. We pray that their souls will repose well in the hands of the one who created them.
Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm and Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.