Wage settlements, jobs top unions’ 2027 budget demands

Out­stand­ing wage ne­go­ti­a­tions, back­pay, em­ploy­ment, and work­er sup­port are among the key de­mands be­ing placed on the Gov­ern­ment ahead of the 2027 Na­tion­al Bud­get, as unions push for set­tle­ments de­spite econ­o­mists warn­ing that an­oth­er deficit bud­get could put pres­sure on the econ­o­my.

Fi­nance Min­is­ter Dav­en­dranath Tan­coo will present the Bud­get on Oc­to­ber 12, at 1.30 pm in the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives. His 2026 bud­get pro­ject­ed rev­enue of $55.367 bil­lion against ex­pen­di­ture of $59.232 bil­lion, re­sult­ing in a pro­ject­ed deficit of $3.865 bil­lion.

Sea­men and Wa­ter­front Work­ers’ Trade Union pres­i­dent Michael An­nisette wants the Gov­ern­ment to find a mech­a­nism to set­tle out­stand­ing ne­go­ti­a­tions, par­tic­u­lar­ly at the port, where some work­ers are still on 2013 salaries.