And so while the talks will continue on March second, today was just a discussion, like a feeling out session - a prelude to negotiations.
But, the union's ultimatum of April first is just six weeks away - and today the president said that they will enter negotiations with a lot more experience:
Dean Flowers, President, PSU
"And so April 1st continues to be a time line for us in achieving a closer to these things in a responsible and amicable way in partnering with the government. Because it is not lost on us, that we are partners with government in terms of the administration and running of this country. It is not the union that pick these fights you know. Some time when you see the union and the government having differences of opinion or being hostile to each other. It is normally certainly individuals with government who believes that the best way to discredit the issues that the union wishes to achieve is to resort to political warfare. We are mature, I am matured, I look back in 2021 and we've learned lessons from that and we've taken a step back in terms of how we negotiate with government and I want to state that government was clear that they are not at that stage to enter into negotiation with us on these issues."
"Today was more of a discussion. 2021, taught us a lot of lessons and we've learnt from that and so if it is we have to resort to hard talks, then we'll do that from a position of experience rather than starting over and that's why I am able to say today with confidence that where these 3 matters are concerned, we will reach an agreement with the government and none of them will be imposed on us in the manner in which government wants, because I think public officers have now come to the realisation that they must stand by and support their union if it is that they intend to get what is due to them."
"I want to commend the responses that we received. I want to commend the attitude that was displayed. I want to commend the humility that was displayed by the government side, because it shows that their approach this time around is not a dictatorial approach, because we've said it, we've learnt. In 2021 we were dictated to. This time around we're going to have a dialogue and we're going to meet in the middle as best as possible before we move forward on these issues."
"So, I trust and I am confident that we were heard today February 15th, a day after Valentine's day and we look forward to continuing these dialogues and come April 1st, who knows? We might be here signing a CBA and negotiating the framework for a new one as well as moving forward where our pension public sector reform is concerned and the issue of our increments. Hopefully we could put that behind us as well."
