Clergyman calls for boycott of Labour Day activities

Disgusted by the massive salary hike that the political directorate has accepted, Bishop Dr Alvin Bailey, one of Jamaica's leading clergymen, has called on the nation to boycott Labour Day activities tomorrow.

Bailey, who is head of the Holiness Christian Church, chairman of Jamaica CAUSE, and leader of the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance, said the boycott would send a strong message to the political leaders that Jamaicans should not be taken for granted.

"I call on all citizens to stay home and use the day to labour in their personal spaces, instead of engaging in the public activities as outlined by the Government," Bailey said.

Labour Day is being commemorated under the theme 'Plant a Tree for Life: Promoting Climate Change Mitigation, Food Security and Road Safety'. The national project, to be led by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, involves the planting of 10,000 trees along Highway 2000. Several projects are expected to be undertaken across the island.

However, in light of the massive salary increases granted to the political directorate -- some in the region of 300 per cent-- Bishop Bailey has argued for the politicians to do the voluntary work by themselves. According to the clergyman, Labour Day, which has been rooted in the thinking that workers should be recognised for their contribution to nation-building, has now been undermined by what he calls the "latest act of greed".

"The unconscionable, disgraceful, and insensitive increases in salaries that the minister of finance announced were to benefit a select number of privileged public servants. This, to my mind, is an insult and a slap in the face of the average working-class Jamaican," Bailey said.

The church leader said that the significant salary increases are symbolic of an acceleration in moral decay, aimed at widening the class structure in the country.