The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of Labour and Public Service Pia Glover-Rolle assured public workers on Friday that they will “absolutely” be involved in the implementation of the new pay structure.

She was responding concerns from Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) President Belinda Wilson and Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) Kimsley Ferguson that unions were not consulted.

When the Tribune reached out to the public service minister, she said: “In short order, the unions will be engaged to be fully involved in the process, as we see them as partners in this process. But, please appreciate, the digitalization project is still in its building phase. The Ministry of Finance had a meeting with the unions a few months ago to inform them of and introduce them to the project.”

Minister Glover-Rolle explained that the budget communication which revealed the new pay structure “simply rolled out the plans for the fiscal year ahead” with the minister of Labour & Public Service ensuring that unions “will continue to be engaged at various levels as digital processes are being phased”.

While Mr Ferguson acknowledged that frequent paydays would improve public workers’ cash flow, he called the decision “haphazard” and questioned where the consultation with public workers’ representatives was.

BUT President Wilson called for Prime Minister Philip Davis to meet with unions while posing several questions about how the new pay structure will affect public workers.

During her budget contribution, Minister Glover-Rolle acknowledged the pushback from some Bahamians and underlined the importance of digitizing government human resources and payroll systems, which was rolled out two weeks ago.

She said, for the sake of productivity, efficiency, and accountability, the government and public service are “at a place where we must digitalize”.

“At the end of the process we will completely change the way government HR works,” she said. “After years of talk about digitalization, we are finally making it happen across the entire government.”

She said that The Bahamas is “at a critical place” in its financial and HR management system moving away from analog to digital and for the process to fully live up to its potential, it needs the buy-in of public servants.

“I know change can be uncomfortable and inconvenient, but we know that change is needed for progress,” she said, giving her assurance that public servants will be supported.

“The necessary change management and training processes are already under way to ensure that everyone is informed and equipped to take advantage of this process.”