PR – Dear Members,
The Union is pleased to inform that on Friday 8th, July 2022, the Grenada Public Workers‘ Union attended a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, to discuss the single item agenda, Pension and Gratuity.
Along with other representative Trade Union and Staff Associations to include Teachers, Prisons and Police, the GPWU received the following firm commitments from the Prime Minister:
- That the Glasgow Pension Judgement of March 29, 2022 upholding the 1958 pensions for public officers will be honoured.
- That the Government will commence payment of pensions and gratuities to all affected retired public officers from 1985 to the present, from November 30th 2022.
- That the estates of all eligible officers and teachers who have since died, will be subsequently paid.
- All public workers retired in 2022 will be paid their gratuity and pension commencing 2022.
The team of Government officials also included, Mr. Lennox Andrews, Minister for Finance, Ms. Claudette Joseph, Minister for Labour and Mr. Mike Sylvester, Permanent Secretary, in the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Sylvester presented a comprehensive overview to the meeting, as to the number of eligible persons and placed the accumulated retroactive amount owed, at 60 million EC Dollars.
Prime Minister Mitchell also gave the firm commitment to honouring the payment of pensions to all eligible public officers and teachers who qualify under the law, according to the various Pensions Acts going forward.
The Union notes that the Honorable Prime Minister credited that information to the work of the Pension Desk, which had been compiled since 2018 and maintained to the present period. The GPWU proudly congratulates and thanks our members for their hard work and dedication to this cause.
The meeting was conducted in a cordial manner and it was agreed that another sitting will be held before August 30th, 2022 to finalize details before retroactive payment to pensioners, commence in full or in part, by November 30th, 2022.
The GPWU expresses thanks to you the members and pensioners for your steadfast support along the path to the restoration of pension and gratuity and assures you, that we will provide information and education as it becomes necessary.
