Govt urged to address petition

PUBLIC servants will withdraw their services if the Government does not address their petition on the salary fixation agreement before Parliament rises, PNG Public Employees Association (PEA) general-secretary Peter Togs says.
He confirmed that the councils of public sector unions (COPSU) and PEA would petition the Government through the Ministers for Public Service and Labour and Industrial minister’s office this week.
Togs said the union would take industrial action if the Government did not capture the salary fixation agreement in 2021 Budget.
He said industrial action would lead to the early shutdown of the public services this year.
Chairman Robert Kutapai said public servants missed out in terms of salary fixation and insurance cover in the 2020 Budget so they wanted the Government to include them in next year’s budget.
He said the union wanted the Government to review the base salary of all public sector employees.
Kutapai said they wanted the Government to address the salary fixation agreement to provide insurance cover for public servants and to reduce tax on basic goods.
“We want the Government to cushion the increased consumer price index (CPI).” Kutapai said the Government could not expect public servants with stagnant salaries to afford increased prices of goods and services. He said this was forcing public servants to get loans to meet needs such as school fees.
“Public servants are living on borrowed money.”