The Opposition has accused Government of treating Police officers in a contemptuous manner amid reports that pay negotiations have broken down.

According to Friday’s edition of the Mid-Ocean News, the Police Association held an emergency meeting last week over stalled salary negotiations and delays on a new station for Hamilton to replace the condemned building on Parliament Street.

The newspaper quoted association chairman Carl Neblett as saying the 2005-2007 pay negotiations were likely to go to arbitration — with the newspaper understanding that officers were requesting a rise of around two percent above that on offer.

Detective Constable Neblett was reported to have said that the Police cannot take industrial action because of their essential role in society. He was further quoted as saying: “We are a special group of people who are regarded as an essential service, yet it’s amazing that when it comes to pay negotiations we can be treated in this way.”

Wading into the debate last night, Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley said: “I want to express the Opposition’s growing alarm over the contemptuous way the Government has been treating these men and women. And I want to warn the PLP that if they don’t start taking their responsibilities to properly manage the Police seriously, then this country could find itself in hot water. The Police are an essential service, and so are prevented by law from taking strike action. That may well be one of the reasons the Government is so cavalier about negotiating with them.”

However, Mr. Dunkley said he was concerned that the Police may lose patience, and any action they might take short of a strike could impact on the fight against rising violent crime.

He added: “In addition, the Opposition is concerned that the contract being negotiated at the moment is the one that should have had effect from 2005 to this year, 2007. The Police have been good enough to work for the last three years without a contract. We are now in the ridiculous position of not having finished negotiating a contract that is already coming to the end of its life — it is due to expire within weeks. If the Government had been taking their responsibilities seriously, they would have just about finished negotiating the contract that will take effect when the current one expires.”

Minister for Public Safety David Burch did not respond to a request for comment on the topic yesterday.