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With Fi­nance Min­is­ter Dav­en­dranath Tan­coo an­nounc­ing the Gov­ern­ment’s plan to be­gin the promised pub­lic sec­tor wage ne­go­ti­a­tions at ten per cent in fis­cal 2026, some pub­lic ser­vants are rel­ish­ing the prospect of hav­ing more mon­ey to cov­er their ex­pens­es.

Al­though the T&T Uni­fied Teach­ers’ As­so­ci­a­tion (TTUTA) and the Chief Per­son­nel Of­fi­cer (CPO) signed off on a five per cent wage in­crease for the pe­ri­od 2020 to 2023 ear­li­er this year, its pres­i­dent, Mar­tin Lum Kin, wel­comed Tan­coo’s an­nounce­ment. The Prison Of­fi­cers As­so­ci­a­tion (POA) said mem­bers are cau­tious­ly op­ti­mistic.

The Joint Trade Union Move­ment said it is “ful­ly con­fi­dent” in Gov­ern­ment ful­fill­ing its promis­es, while the Pub­lic Ser­vices As­so­ci­a­tion (PSA), which rep­re­sents the bulk of pub­lic ser­vants, ex­pressed its mem­bers’ ex­cite­ment.