Municipal workers deserve more than 10 per cent increase – Duncan

Oct 01, 2008 News

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— New revenue base needful to meet demands says City Mayor

The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is attempting to create a feud between the unions that represent municipal workers and this, by extension, could result in workers being negatively affected according to General Secretary of the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), Mr Carvil Duncan.
Duncan was at the time addressing a recent agreement between the Guyana Local Government Officers Union (GLGOU) and the M&CC entitling the workers to a 10 per cent increase in their pay package retroactive to January.

According to the agreement, the workers should be paid by October month end.
However, Duncan, during an interview with this newspaper, yesterday, insisted that 10 per cent was not sufficient to meet the needs of the workers. He pointed out that the workers were not afforded a mandatory increase last year.
Duncan said that during negotiations, the council had offered the GLU, which represents more than 60 per cent of the municipal workers, a 10 per cent increase which was firmly rejected by the union.
“No increase was paid to the workers for 2007…The government gave public servants five per cent plus $4,000 which is equivalent to about a 21 per cent increase. The inflation rate for 2007 was 14 per cent and they (City Hall) paid no increase…We are saying we cannot accept 10 per cent for 2008 and nothing for 2007.”
Duncan said that he is disappointed that the GLGOU accepted 10 per cent to the detriment of the workers. He attributed this to the fact that the leadership of the union comprises employees of the council, thus causing them to be in a very difficult position to bargain for the workers.
The GLU General Secretary is of the opinion that the workers are being setup to ultimately suffer.
Duncan said that as the stronger union, the GLU has refused the percentage offered and is now set to go to arbitration.
“We are saying that while we are not against the 10 per cent for 2008, we are not prepared to accept zero for 2007….That is our position.”
The GLU is lobbying for the workers to not only be paid 10 per cent for this year but also for last year which, according to Duncan, is still a compromise position the union has taken since the original intent was to negotiate for 20 per cent on an annual basis for the workers.
Duncan further questioned the current ability of the council to pay the retroactive sum in October when for the past three months it has been too cash-strapped to pay workers their salaries and complete a five per cent retroactive payment to the constabulary officers.

“In reality what they are doing is playing one union against the other and exploiting the weak so that strong will become weak one day…but I have some surprises for them. The GLU has no intention of becoming weak and we have no intention to subject ourselves to the influence of the council.”
But according to President of the GLGOU, Mr Andrew Garnett, the approach of his union is geared at partnering with the council with a view of deriving strategies that would result in the workers being paid.
He pointed out that the union has recognised that the workers cannot be paid if no money is available, thus the need for a crucial collaboration process.
Garnett disclosed that while his union has settled for a 10 per cent increase for the workers, it had initially been lobbying for 15 per cent by way of letter which was sent to the council in January.
He said that it was on July 14, last, that the union was able to complete a Memorandum of Understanding with the council, which addresses the improvement of the services rendered to the city, an urgent need for the expansion of the revenue base as well as the welfare of the workers which includes remuneration.
Garnett said that the MOU was signed by himself, the Acting Town Clerk, Ms Yonette Pluck, Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr Robert Williams, and Public Relations Officer, Mr Royston King.
The GLGOU President related that his union had become cognizant that the council did not have the financial capacity to pay workers an increase last year, a basis on which the union decided to settle for the 10 per cent for this year.
Garnett revealed that although there was a breakdown in the discussions between the union and the council, an agreement was reached on Friday last for the workers to be paid the proposed increase before the end of October.

And through continued collaboration and by encouraging its members to support the efforts of the municipality, Garnett is optimistic that the council will be able to pay its workers by the stipulated time.
He speculated that an intensified rates and taxes collection process engaged by the council is likely to see the revenue base of the council being expanded, even as he noted that residents more often than not pay up their taxes close to year end.
And though the increase of the workers’ salaries was viewed as a necessity, City Mayor Hamilton Green is sceptical that the municipally would be able to honour the agreement given the level of its indebtedness.
According to Green, because the council owes contractors several millions of dollars, it has been trying to aggressively acquire outstanding monies from tax payers, despite the slothfulness of the court system.
“The issue is not the payment of 10 per cent; workers deserve an increase with the present cost of living but we need to be able to expand our revenue base for this to occur…”
Mayor Green articulated that the council has for a number of years been trying to have its revenue base expanded, a move which has been repeatedly rejected by the ruling People’s Progressive Party, he opined.
According to the Mayor, the GLU General Secretary had even offered to make a proposal to the government for the expansion of the revenue and this had resulted in the administration paying what was owed to the council rather than allowing for the creation of new revenue bases.
The Mayor pointed out that the intent of the council is not to be adversarial to neither unions nor workers but stressed that the council will without a doubt fall short of the payment if it cannot find new sources of revenue.
Meanwhile, plans for a retreat between union and senior municipal officials are in the pipelines. The retreat is expected to serve as a forum through which ways could be devised on how the council could best be able to pay its workers.
According to the Mayor, even as the restructuring process continues, Minister of Local Government Mr Kellawan Lall has openly noted that the council is overstaffed, hinting that if staffers are retrenched payment of workers might very well become more of a reality.

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