The Joint Trade Union Move­ment (JTUM) has called on cit­i­zens to gath­er out­side White­hall on Sat­ur­day, De­cem­ber 7, at 9 a.m. to protest the gov­ern­ment’s ac­cep­tance of the Salaries Re­view Com­mis­sion’s (SRC) rec­om­men­da­tions.

JTUM claims the gov­ern­ment has ap­proved sig­nif­i­cant salary in­creas­es and back pay for gov­ern­ment of­fi­cials while of­fer­ing on­ly a 4% wage in­crease to pub­lic sec­tor work­ers and no sup­port for oth­ers. The union says this de­ci­sion shows the gov­ern­ment’s dis­con­nect from the pub­lic and high­lights the grow­ing eco­nom­ic di­vide in the coun­try.

Ac­cord­ing to JTUM, the gov­ern­ment’s ac­tions have widened the gap be­tween the wealthy and the work­ing class and have weak­ened the mid­dle class. They ar­gue that many cit­i­zens are strug­gling to cope with ris­ing costs and eco­nom­ic chal­lenges, while gov­ern­ment of­fi­cials ben­e­fit from in­creased salaries.

JTUM has urged work­ers and con­cerned cit­i­zens to join the protest to de­mand fair treat­ment and poli­cies that ad­dress the needs of those dri­ving the econ­o­my.