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THE Contractors and General Workers Trade Union (CGWTU) is calling on the minister of finance and the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) for clarity and accountability on long-promised wage increases and arrears for daily-rated workers at the San Fernando City Corporation. The union said the delays have become “unacceptable.”

A statement by union president general Ermine De Bique Meade, on December 3, said it signed collective agreements for the periods 2014-2016, and 2017-2019, on April 24, with assurances from the CPO that new wage rates would take effect by August, and outstanding arrears paid before Christmas. Neither has happened.

She said the CPO initially attributed the delay to the transition to a new administration, later advising that the matter was awaiting the national budget, and then claiming no directive had come from the minister of finance even after the budget was delivered.