The Wage of War
Now that another season of the Jamaica’s hit series For the Love of IMF has come and gone, the new season of Let Us Wage War has begun and looks to be as gripping and tense as the seasons past though we hope its finale is not as lacklustre as before. The cast members -public servants and government ministers- have set the stage and two episodes have already been aired.
The first episode – “Educate then Eradicate” revolved around teachers, every parent’s favourite scapegoat for their child’s failure in school and their standoff with the Education minister Saint Ronald Thwaites. As usual, the Jamaica Teacher’s Association came with “pure badniss” – bravado for my overseas readers- claiming nothing less than a double digit increase in wages would be accepted. It is an overused tactic but one which we expected to have a little more bite this year as the JTA is now headed by self-proclaimed master dog handler Doran Dixon. The government has so far offered the teachers a 5% increase on basic salary over two years; 3% in year one and 2% in year 2, which caused the predictable spitting of fire. Seems like the Hon. Horace Dalley takes the JTA for a rather large cat with that offer. Perhaps there is more here than meets the eye? Doran Dixon did say the Government considered them to be pus… -clears throat- let us leave that there for now.
But regardless, the teachers are merely the appetizer to what is a grand orgy of delights for this show. While a predictable start, it did create a buzz with the public and created the atmosphere for episode two “Arrest &Arrears” which saw the Police out in full force with a no nonsense attitude and a trigger happy leadership.
Demanding a 100% increase in wages, these guys weren’t playing around and promptly rallied the rank and file for battle. An ultimatum was given, give us we want or else which was met with a collective shrug at the Ministry of Financial Wizardry. With Sun Tzu’s The Art of War in one hand and a solid middle finger to the Government on the other, a mass sick out was orchestrated on June 1, which brought the Justice system to a standstill. The Government’s response? How dare they exercise their right for industrial action! Supreme Court, get them back in in line! And that is how the legal chains of subjugation were handed out. No one likes being told what to do, especially police officers; most rarely obey the very laws they to are to help uphold. Don’t believe me? Observe one on the roads and you would see differently. The race track at Dover is mere child’s play for them. With a Supreme Court ruling under their belt and the threat of having their assets confiscated, the plot thickens and we await what the Police force’s next move will be.
With the stage being set for two groups already, the question on everyone’s mind is who else can we expect at this grand affair? The Doctors? Who are master optimists and strategists? Or perhaps maybe even a Minster or two complaining that their Prado’s travel allowance isn’t up to par or that their 2014 Mercedes Benz is only fit to be driven by the inarticulate majority of peasants? Who knows? We are waiting with bated breath for episode three to see what the One True Master reveals. The IMF is coming….
N.B- Food for thought, has anyone ever seen a politician clamouring for higher wages?