PASSPORT, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) on Friday said its management team is in dialogue with staff regarding their concerns over some aspects of the Government’s compensation restructuring programme.

The agency made the disclosure in a news release, in response to a report in Friday’s The Gleaner newspaper that workers are unhappy about the reclassification and are considering industrial action.

According to The Gleaner, the workers became disgruntled after receiving their October pay this week and learning that junior and senior employees in different departments had been “lumped together and placed at the same level, on the same scale, regardless of qualification, tenure, and performance”.

The newspaper reported one employee as saying that they are calling on the prime minister and national security ministry to intervene.

“We are going to do everything that is legal, and if the Transformation Implementation Union in the finance ministry don’t meet with the union to revert what was done, we’re definitely going on strike,” the
The Gleaner quoted the employee.

In its release on Friday, PICA said it is also in discussion with the relevant ministries and union on the matter, and “all stakeholders are working assiduously to address the remaining concerns in the shortest possible time”.

The agency also extended thanks to the staff “for their continued patience and professionalism”.