Trinidad and Tobago’s National Nurses’ Association has expressed disappointment after the Government’s 2027 budget presentation did not address nurses’ outstanding wage arrears or the proposed 10 per cent wage increase they had hoped to see included.
Association president Letitia Cox told Guardian Media that nurses had expected the Finance Minister to provide an update on their outstanding claims. She said the Government had previously indicated that provisions for wage settlements would be included in the fiscal 2027 budget after negotiations and calculations were completed.
Cox said she attended the budget presentation at Parliament expecting the issue to be addressed. She recalled that Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo had referred to nurses during a June parliamentary discussion, indicating that relief was coming for workers involved in negotiations or awaiting finalisation.
“We were hoping that the Honourable Minister of Finance would have made good on the promise he made during the Mid-year Budget Review,” Cox said, according to the Guardian. She added that she was disappointed when the presentation did not provide the expected announcement on nurses’ wage increases and arrears.
The association president said the absence of a specific commitment had discouraged members but insisted that the organisation would continue supporting their demands. She encouraged nurses to participate in a planned march against the Government on October 23, saying the association remained prepared to defend its members’ interests.
The issue has drawn attention because the budget included allocations for other public sector groups. Tancoo announced funding for the National Union of Government and Federated Workers, as well as arrears allocations for the Port of Spain and San Fernando city corporations and the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force.
The Guardian report also noted that the Government had proposed a cash settlement equivalent to 40 per cent of outstanding arrears for Public Services Association workers. PSA president Felisha Thomas had previously indicated that she wanted to hear the offer directly from the Finance Minister’s budget presentation before commenting further. Attempts to obtain a response from Thomas after the presentation were unsuccessful, the newspaper reported.
Not all union leaders responded negatively to the budget. Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union president general Ancel Roget described it as “excellent,” according to the report.
For the nurses’ association, however, the immediate concern remains the absence of a specific budget announcement addressing its members’ claims. Cox’s comments signal that the association intends to continue pressing the Government for clarity on the outstanding wage issues and the commitments it says were previously made.
