Public Servants’ wage negotiations…Union calls Govt.’s final offer “absurd”

Aug 26, 2016 News

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– denies making isolated 25% proposal

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) considers the ‘final offer’ proposed by the Government

of Guyana concerning wage increases for public servants to be an absurdity, since the state’s negotiating team has yet to address the issues of de-bunching and allowances.
During a press conference last June held by the GPSU on the issue, its President Patrick Yarde had relayed that the allowances and de-bunching were of significant importance to the Union and would play a critical role in both parties arriving at a consensus.
A statement issued by the Union yesterday said that the two important components which were substantive parts of the negotiations have not been remotely addressed by the government’s delegation.
According to the Union, it had engaged the Government of Guyana in the wages, salaries and allowances negotiation with a clear mandate that the engagement should focus on the goals of a living wage for Public Servants, the resolution of the de-bunching issue within scales, and addressing the matter of the adequacy of allowances paid to public officers.
The Union’s position is that these objectives, and no less, wholly inform their negotiating approach in the engagement.
According to the Union, the de-bunching exercise should start immediately at the conclusion of the negotiations. The format would be that after the first three years of service, one increment, and for every additional two years of service, one increment.
On the issue of Allowances, the statement said that an agreement was reached with the Minister of Finance Winston Jordan since 2015 to commence the review of allowances paid to public servants. The process agreed to was by establishing a Tripartite Committee comprising representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Public Service Management and the Guyana Public Service Union.
This was also expressed in the Minister’s Presentation of 2015 National Budget in Parliament.
According to the Union, there has been an inordinate delay in addressing this matter.

The Government had issued a statement explaining what took place during negotiations. It acknowledged that the matter of allowances was brought up, along with the Union’s initial 40% increase proposal which it supposedly reduced to 25%. But according to the GPSU, it has never proposed an isolated 25% increase for wages, salaries and allowances. Moreover, during the initial period of the negotiations, the government’s negotiating team made two offers commencing at the base at 5.5%. They then increased that by .5% to 6%. The Union’s negotiating team rejected both proposals.
The Government’s team which was headed by Reginald Brotherson, Permanent Secretary, Department of Public Service, proposed a differentiated approach to increases which sought to provide the greatest relief to those within the lower salary bands of the Public Service Wages and Salaries Structure.
As such, the government proposed that persons earning below $100,000 would receive 5.5%; those earning $100,000 to $300,000 would receive 5% ; persons earning $300,000 to $800,000 would receive 4.5% ; those earning $800,000 to $1,000,000 would receive 2% and persons earning over a $1,000,000 would receive 1%. The below $100,000 percentage offer of 5.5% was later increased to 6%.
On the issue of allowances, the government had said that it would consider a review of allowances for public servants immediately upon the conclusion of the negotiations for wages and salaries, utilizing the same process outlined by the Union.
To allow the Union to make informed proposals, it had requested detailed information on several aspects of government’s revenue and expenditure. However, up to this time, none of these have been provided. Despite this, the Union proceeded to submit its proposals which were presented on August 9, 2016.
The proposal asked for salary increases spread across a three-year period. It was proposed that for Year one (January to December 2016) a flat increase of $7500 per month would be added to the salary of public servants at December 31, 2015, as well as the amount payable at the minimum and maximum of each of bands one to 14 of the schedule of salary in the Public Service.
This was to be accompanied by a 25% increase across-the-board for each public servant, as well as to the amount payable at the minimum and maximum bands.
A $7,000 per month January to December 2017 was proposed to be added to the salary at December 31, 2016, and to minimum and maximum bands. In addition, a 20% increase across the board to the salary as at December 2016 to the amount payable at the minimum and maximum bands.
For year three, January to December 2018 it was proposed that there should be a flat increase of $9,000 per month added to the salary at December 31, 2017. Also, a 20% increase across-the-board to the salary as at December 2017, of each person employed in the public sector.
The Union also took into consideration inflation and therefore proposed that for the three years there shall be an additional increase as determined by the Bureau of Statistics. A response to the Government’s offer will be forthcoming after a meeting of its General Council.

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