Finance Minister RESPONDS To Planned ‘Day of Rest And Reflection’ By Employees of Regional Health Authorities (RHAs)

UPDATE (18/12/25): President of the Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA), Idi Stuart, says wage negotiations for nurses must conclude by January or February 2026, calling the timeline “non-negotiable.” Stuart is warning that unresolved backpay and staffing shortages could disrupt healthcare services over the Christmas period. He is also urging the Government to issue clear guidance to Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) to resolve negotiations quickly.

Stuart emphasized that the TTRNA is not responsible for occasional work slowdowns, attributing them instead to frustrated individual workers. He also highlighted concerns over unrepresented healthcare staff, infrastructure challenges, and the need for careful planning before diverting staff to new projects.

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The Government said it has taken note of the planned “day of rest and reflection” by nursing personnel over outstanding wage settlements. “While we respect the right to protest, we urge that patient care and essential services be protected at all times.” This from Minister of Finance, the Honourable Davendranath Tancoo.

The Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) and the Public Services Association (PSA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on 2nd December, 2025, for the bargaining periods of 2014 - 2016 and 2017 - 2019, including a 10% wage increase with new salary payments starting in January 2026 and retroactive allowances from 1st January, 2014.

In a Media Release on Friday (12th December, 2025), Minister Tancoo said, “Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) are public sector bodies created under their own Act and are not part of the core public service governed by the Civil Service Act. When RHAs were first operationalized, staff who transferred from the Civil Service and statutory authorities were guaranteed that, at the point of transfer, they would not be placed on less favourable terms. That was a one-time safeguard, not an open-ended guarantee that every future Civil Service wage increase would automatically follow them into the RHAs.”

In fact, the Government notes that, on 13th January, 2025, the Trinidad and Tobago Nursing Association was certified as the recognized majority union for certain nursing positions at the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) and is now entitled to engage in collective bargaining for this group under the Industrial Relations Act.

According to the Minister, “In law, wage settlements for RHA employees must come through negotiations between each RHA and its recognized majority union under the Industrial Relations Act; they cannot simply be imported by extending the agreement recently concluded between the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) and the Public Services Association (PSA) for public officers. Only officers who remain public officers within the meaning of the Civil Service Act are entitled to and will receive the revised terms agreed between the CPO and the PSA. Extending those terms to all RHA staff who are no longer public officers would go beyond the legal authority of the State, because the RHAs — not the CPO — are their employers.”

He added, “The Government respects the collective bargaining process and remains committed to good-faith engagement with the appropriate labour organizations. We are open to fair wage adjustments where they can be responsibly funded. In this regard, the Government therefore call on all recognized majority unions representing RHA employees to submit formal wage proposals directly to the RHAs, so that lawful, transparent negotiations can commence, that is guided by fiscal discipline and the State's capacity to sustain increases.”

The Media Release concluded by saying, “Our administration assumed office only seven (7) months ago and has already begun to unlock long-delayed wage rounds; we will continue to do so through proper collective bargaining, and we also ask our healthcare professionals to work with their unions to activate that process while continuing to deliver vital care to the public.”

Meanwhile, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA), Idi Stuart, says the association is not part of any planned day of rest or reflection by Regional Health Authority (RHA) personnel, if they do not receive the 10% wage increase which the UNC promised public servants during the General Election campaign earlier this year.

He made this comment on Saturday (13th December, 2025) in response to the Media Release issued by Minister Tancoo on this matter, saying in a WhatsApp statement, “The association is not a participant currently in that measure that is being planned.”

Stuart notes that the TTRNA is sympathetic to all RHA workers throughout TT “who really feel a sense of disappointment with not being included in the current concluded negotiations between the PSA and the CPO, particularly when it comes to the partial backpay...the advanced backpay [to public servants].”

“The association does believe that all RHA workers should benefit from that backpay during this Christmas period,” he said.

He added that once negotiations are settled between the recognized majority trade unions and the CPO within the RHAs, the backpay for RHA workers would be in excess “of the $20,000 that has been promised to public servants.”

Stuart identified those unions as the TTRNA, Medical Professionals Association of TT (MPATT) and the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW).

“It would not have taken much out of the Government to allocate that, not only for public servants, but also for RHA workers,” he said.

More on this as it becomes available.