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GPSU calls for reform of Public Service, as well as wage increases
GPSU President, Patrick Yarde
– accuses Govt. of dishonesty during talks
The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) is calling for reform of the Public Service; this is in addition to the proposed scheme for salary increases. According to the Union, it is committed to an Objective Organization Restructuring in the public sector accompanied by a job evaluation exercise of relevant positions.
In this regard, the Union believes that there also need to be provisions for rewarding additional and special responsibilities; and the reduction of overlap, more consistency and logic in the number and spread among bands, and de-bunching where necessary.
To bring about this restructuring, it is the GPSU’s position that the findings and recommendations of all previous and current Reports of committees, arbitration tribunals and the Commission of Inquiry in the public service should be taken into consideration so as to inform the determination and completion of the restructuring exercise.
The Union is of the opinion that this can be done within the three-year period during which it had proposed increases in salaries occur – January 2016 to December 2018. It is the Union’s wish that the results of this exercise should be implemented no later than the first year following the period covered by the proposal.
In a statement issued by the Union, it was pointed out that for more than two decades, public servants were not allowed to enjoy meaningful representation despite there being a legally binding Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) in force.
“It is important to note that eventually a point was reached where the contemptuous setting aside of the CLA and the arbitrary and grossly inadequate imposition of an annual hand-out came to be seen as a Badge of Shame for Government and an enduring humiliation for Public Servants.”
According to the Union, the CLA was blatantly abused, repeatedly, without respect for the legal nature of the Collective Agreement made in 1993, where the state and Union agreed that there existed a need for negotiation of a comprehensive wages policy to solve problems of public servants.
“It was expected that with the entry of a new political administration in May 2015, there would have been an undertaking to bring this humiliating condition to an end, and that serious and honest negotiations would commence. This expectation was further heightened with the debate on the decision of Government to significantly increase the salaries of Ministers, a decision which unsurprisingly, immediately evoked a “what about Public Servants?” response,” the Union reflected.
According to the GPSU, it has persistently made the point that expectations of quantum improvement in the performance of the Public Service to match the ambitions of economic development and national growth, envisaged by the political administration, while simultaneously workers face poor working conditions and wages and salaries, is at best foolhardy and at worst, absurd.
To this end the Union posits that the Human Resources of the nation ought to be seen as the most important asset and should be the first charge on state funds within the National Budget.
The GPSU said that during negotiations, Government’s attempt to paint a gloomy picture of economic turmoil as a direct consequence of the 1999/2000 Armstrong tribunal awards and also alleging that 6000 workers lost their jobs, was entirely misleading and deliberately dishonest.
With regard to sourcing the funds needed to finance salary increases, the Union highlighted that the forensic audits which were conducted had revealed large sums of money lying idle in various bank accounts and these sums are now available for government use.
The Union’s position is that both sides will remain steadfast in their commitment to the virtues that ought, correctly, to attend the negotiations, and which they richly deserve.
“What the Union would like to make clear, of course, is that negotiations on the issue of wages, salaries and allowances cannot be placed in a once-and-for-all context. It recognizes that in an economy such as Guyana’s an incremental approach must be employed in addressing the issue of Public Servants’ salaries. The Union expects fervently that the current negotiations will reach a mutually satisfying conclusion in the shortest possible time.”
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