The Police Federation is to meet today (Mar 13) with National Security Minister Robert Montague.

Police Federation Chairman Sergeant Cecil McCalla says the meeting will be used to alert the minister to the issues facing the federation.

The Federation is engaged in wage negotiations for the 2017/2019 contract period with the Finance Ministry and has rejected a 16 percent wage offer over four years.

However, the Finance Ministry has indicated that that it intends to pay increases with the March salaries.

The Federation says it’s shocked by that move and disappointed at comments from the Finance Minister about a 34 percent increase over 4 years for salaries to cops.

Meanwhile, the Police Federation is questioning what legal authority the ministry has to make payments when a new contract has not been signed.

The Federation says it has written to the Minister of Finance for clarification and is eagerly awaiting a response, as it wants to continue negotiations.

Sergeant McCalla states that in the interim the police federation is prepared to utilize all legal means to ensure that the sanctity of the negotiation process is preserved.

He adds that rank and file police officers are extremely disappointed with the latest developments.