GPSU peeved over GCCI President’s comments on wages increase

Oct 06, 2016 News

The Guyana Public Service Union is quite upset about the recent public statements made by the President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vishnu Doerga, concerning wage increases for public servants.

GCCI President,
Vishnu Doerga

Doerga had said at his organisation’s monthly press conference that the proposed 10 per cent increase offered by the government will boost the economy, since the extra money which will be spent has a higher multiplier effect than income gained from other sources such as gold.
However, in his later comments, the GCCI Head said that had Guyana been a private entity, workers would not have been given an increase.
He took this position based on Guyana only being two per cent ahead of the nation’s GDP growth. He said, “If we were to look at Guyana as a private sector entity, there will be no way there would be a salary increase, given that we’re two per cent ahead of our GDP growth. How can we pay 10 per cent if we’re two per cent ahead?”
According to the GPSU, Doerga’s comments together with those made by Finance Minister Winston Jordan and Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin are to the effect, that public servants should set aside their efforts through their Union to secure wages and salaries increase.
The Union in a statement to the media said that Doerga is not the first private sector official to make utterances that reflect an absence of value for the role of public servants. This, according to the Union is ironic, since the Business Support Organisation (BSO) that Doerga heads, depends on the services of various public sector organisations in the quest to maximise their profits.
The Union describes it as regretful that Doerga appears not to recognise the nexus between the higher level of efficiency in the public service which his organisation continually advocates, and a more incentivised public service.

GPSU President,
Patrick Yarde

“In all of his arguments as with those of Ministers Jordan and Gaskin, no consideration is given to the issue of a living wage, not a level of earnings that support the kind of lavish life-style enjoyed by many members of the business class, but earnings that afford a decent living, which, properly defined, can be taken to mean enough to afford themselves and their families a reasonable and comfortable level of existence.
Is Mr. Doerga aware that there are Public Servants who, by virtue of being prisoners of meagre wages and salaries, continue to be victims of a mundane and miserable existence?”
According to the GPSU, Doerga needs to relate the affordability argument to the more than $40B in duty free concessions and remission of taxes which the government gives to the private sector each year.
This sum, the Union calculated, is more than what is required to pay Government employees in and out of uniform. This includes army, police, teachers, public servants wages and salaries.
The Union highlighted the total value of tax concessions and remissions granted to business enterprises. For the year 2014 the amount totalled $21.8 M; in 2015 $20.2M and for 2016 to date $14.7M.
This information was taken from the Government of Guyana’s Mid-Year Report on the performance of the economy.

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