KINGSTON, Jamaica — National Water Commission (NWC) employees returned to work today following the intervention of Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke.

The Ministry of Labour and Social requested the intervention of Dr Clarke Thursday evening after it became evident that the issue which led to the strike was tied to the 2017 wage and fringe benefits agreement between his ministry and the public sector workers.

The parties have agreed to a resumption of normality at the NWC’s Marescaux Road office, which had closed down its customer services operations after the workers stopped working on Thursday. This will facilitate further conciliatory efforts at the Ministry of Labour on Monday, at which time the parties hope they will be able to hammer out a settlement.

The workers are seeking a $160,000 one-off payment, based on an understanding the unions say was made at conclusion of the negotiations on the current four-year public sector wage agreement in 2017 that a one-off payment could be made to the lowest paid workers. However, the Ministry of Finance says that whatever understanding was reached did not anticipate a payment of the magnitude of $160,000. The NWC had offered the unions a $40,000 payment, which was rejected.

Balford Henry