Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley sought to do some damage control today hours after the Finance Minister created a furore with his talk of wage restraint.
At a forum at the Hyatt on Wednesday Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the government had spoken to the trade union movement and alerted them that in the period 2017- 2020 government’s starting offer in negotiations would be 0-0-0.
Today, at post-Cabinet press briefing, Rowley said “when the Minister of Finance speaks about restraint it is exactly that we can’t get more from less,” but he reaffirmed Government’s commitment to the “collective bargaining process,” saying “we have no intention of throwing collective bargaining out the window.”
The Prime Minister made it clear that no 0-0-0 offer had been made saying the minister “spoke in a vacuum” and it was a speculative position.
Minister Imbert had also hinted about another 15% increase in the price of fuel next year, but in doing so he laughed that three increases in the last year “and they have not rioted yet,” asked whether he felt that it was not what Minister Imbert said but how he said it the Prime Minister likened it to a doctor lacking in bed-side manners.
He also said Government had not declared war on the working class but on corruption and on those who made a career of stealing the country's money.