KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Nurses here ended their protest on Friday night after reaching a temporary agreement with government officials during a marathon meeting.
“Nurses will call off their public education campaign,” said Edith Allwood-Anderson, president of the Nurses Association of Jamaica, referring to the protest action.
A four-point agreement was reached at the meeting which lasted more than eight hours. One crucial element is that negotiations are to resume on Monday and will continue under the lead of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
The two-day protest, which started on Thursday forced public hospitals to scale down operations as nurses stayed off the job to press their demands for improved salaries.
Nurses are pushing for an 80 per cent pay hike in the first year and 40 per cent in the second but government has offered between 22 and 24 per cent over two years to the various categories.