BARBADOS' largest public sector union raised nearly 20 objections to the now controversial three-year job evaluation exercise that has resulted in hotly contested salary increases for top politicians and senior public officers.

In fact, contrary to media suggestions yesterday that the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), which represents a majority of the 28 000 public officers, had approved implementation of the results of the exercise, the union pointed to several "administrative injustices" it said mitigated against the exercise.

And informed sources told the DAILY NATION the NUPW was planning an emergency executive meeting for today specifically to discuss the proposed pay hikes.

"A job evaluation is about appraising job functions," said a senior union officer, "and is not a basis to raise MPs' salaries."

The fairness of the exercise, which covered 1 100 different jobs, was questioned by the NUPW in a letter to the Ministry of the Civil Service, dated July 5, 2004, and signed by deputy general secretary Dennis Clarke.

"We have discovered that in a number of cases job descriptions were not relevant," Clarke wrote. "In other cases, workers had never seen their job descriptions.

"The most knowledgeable, capable and competent officers were not sent to fill out the job questionnaire. Some of those who filled out the questionnaire found the exercise confusing and this resulted in frustration which translated into a poor response."

The NUPW raised concerns on behalf of education officers; technical officers in the Audio Visual Aids Department; the pharmacy of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital; home helpers; car park attendants; community development and welfare officers; the Co-operative Department; Customs and Excise; the Auditor-General's Office; Data Processing; Veterinary Services Laboratory; Nursing Services; accounting and finance officers; clerical officers in the NIS; personnel and executive officers; the Library Service; the Sanitation Service Authority; the assistant commissioner at Inland Revenue; and administrative officers I and II.