Civil servants are to protest outside the Ministry of Finance on Monday over the Government’s decision to end the transportation service for public sector workers.
The Jamaica Civil Service Association says the Government Employees Transportation Service, GETS, will be terminated tomorrow, October 31.
The JCSA is urging members to wear black and gather across from the Finance Ministry at 10 o’clock Monday morning.
It says the Government is ending the service without showing that a workable alternative is in place.
According to the Association, the Finance Ministry advised in May that GETS would be phased out, and that the Jamaica Urban Transit Company would take over the service during a six-month transition.
But the JCSA says no confirmed arrangement has been presented to show how workers will get to and from work once GETS ends.
It says workers still don’t know about routes, schedules, costs or how reliable any replacement will be.
The Association says GETS helps many public sector employees cut the daily cost of commuting, and losing it without a proper alternative could put more financial pressure on them and their families.
It also points out that GETS is covered by a 1993 agreement between the Government and the JCSA, and says the Government’s obligations under that agreement must be addressed before the service is discontinued.
The JCSA says public sector transformation and fiscal efficiency must not come at the expense of workers’ established benefits.
