HON. PHILIP J. PIERRE ALLOCATED AN ADDITIONAL $1.5M TO COVER GOVERNMENT PENSIONERS WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN EXCLUDED FROM BACK PAY DISBURSEMENTS.

Prime Minister Hon. Philip J. Pierre and the Cabinet of Ministers have ensured that ineligible pensioners are not excluded from the recently concluded trade negotiations between the Government Negotiating Team (GNT) and the Trade Union Federation (TUF).

Government pensioners who retired from the public service before April 1, 2022, were ineligible and would not benefit from the wage increases and back pay disbursements for the 2022 - 2025 bargaining period. With the support of the Cabinet, Prime Minister Pierre made a critical intervention by allocating an additional $1.5 million to cover government pensioners who would have been excluded from the back pay disbursement. These pensioners will receive a one-time $500 lump sum payment from the government in February.

Since July 2021, the Pierre administration has raised the minimum pension payment to $725 monthly and disbursed more than $4.5 million in direct support to government pensioners.