Govt. – GPSU wage talks in final lap

Jul 15, 2016 News

GPSU President, Patrick Yarde

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon

Wages and salary negotiations between the Government and Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) are in the final stages.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon, during a Post-Cabinet Press Briefing yesterday, told media officials that the negotiations are continuing, while adding that they are at a point where the State is expecting a counter-proposal from the Union on their final offer.
Harmon explained that he did not want to expound more on the negotiations, since both parties would have agreed on a protocol which states that neither side would be making any statements about the negotiations until they would have reached a specific point.
What the Minister did say was that, the discussions are not in deadlock and the Government is awaiting the counter-proposal, which will have to be considered.
The talks pertaining to wages and salaries for 2016 began last month.
In February 2015, President David Granger had informed the public that negotiations with trade unions would begin after the completion of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Public Service. The Commissioners were Professor Harold Lutchman, Sandra Jones and Samuel Goolsarran.
The CoI had begun in September 2015 and was finally presented in May 2016, and as such, the Government had indicated its readiness to commence the negotiations.
President of the GPSU, Patrick Yarde had stated earlier this year that the Union was aware of an allocation within the 2016 budget under the heading “Other Employment Costs” to the tune of six billion dollars.
Yarde had also noted“…that is the head from which it has been up to last year, that the funds were accessed to deal with increases in wages and salaries.”
According to Yarde, the union had initially sought a 40 percent increase in salaries when they met with the Minister of Finance Winston Jordan before his budget presentation last year. Additionally, the union in its recommendations had asked for the introduction of increments.
He had said that within the public service, increments were not being received for quite some time. Yarde stated “…for years people were employed with the same salary, 10 years ago and one year ago, the same salary.” This was the situation despite there being a minimum and maximum value for wages and salaries.
Yarde said that public servants were entitled to increments within the bands, based on their performance. He described it as being a contentious issue since 1999 when there was a strike. The Armstrong Tribunal which came out of that industrial action had also suggested salary increments.
Despite the suggestions made by the tribunal, Yarde commented that the PPP/C government at the time did not implement increments in light of the Armstrong decision which was intended to be binding. Yarde had given a heads-up that this matter would be featured in the negotiations which are currently ongoing.
The Government negotiation team is being led by Reginald Brotherson, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Public Service within the Ministry of the Presidency. The GPSU’s negotiation team is being led by its President and includes first Vice President Mortimer Livan and General Secretary Kemton Alexander along with other members of the union.

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