Police officers who stay away from their job Monday could to face criminal charges under the Industrial Relations Act.
Under the Industrial Relations Act, if any member of the executive of the association organises and/or approves sick-out and/or protest action, that member could be jailed for 12 months.
Chapter 88:01 Section 68 of the same Act states that should a police officer participate in any sick-out action, that officer is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $1,000 and to imprisonment for six months.
Under the Industrial Relations Act, if any member of the executive of the association organises and/or approves sick-out and/or protest action, that member could be jailed for 12 months.
Chapter 88:01 Section 68 of the same Act states that should a police officer participate in any sick-out action, that officer is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $1,000 and to imprisonment for six months.
The police association has stated that it has not sanctioned any such action but has also said it is sympathetic to the struggle of police officers for better pay.
Officers have threatened to call in sick and stay at home to "rest and reflect" to dramatise their rejection of the Chief Personnel Officer's (CPO) offer of a five per cent increase in salaries.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar warned police against taking action. "The Government has not taken lightly the threat that some members of the Police Service may fail to carry out their duties to protect the lives of innocent men, women and children.
"We will not stand idly by and witness this wanton act of abandonment and dereliction of duty take place without an appropriate measured response," she said during a walkabout in Port of Spain.
Police officers are angry over the statement.
They are saying an officer is entitled to be sick. However the mass advertising of their action makes a mockery of that since it is clear that there is an organised attempt at industrial action, which is illegal for members of an essential service.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar warned police against taking action. "The Government has not taken lightly the threat that some members of the Police Service may fail to carry out their duties to protect the lives of innocent men, women and children.
"We will not stand idly by and witness this wanton act of abandonment and dereliction of duty take place without an appropriate measured response," she said during a walkabout in Port of Spain.
Police officers are angry over the statement.
They are saying an officer is entitled to be sick. However the mass advertising of their action makes a mockery of that since it is clear that there is an organised attempt at industrial action, which is illegal for members of an essential service.
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