Recommendations on negotiations by the CoI in the Public Service

Jun 04, 2017 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
This letter is on collective bargaining negotiations for improved terms and conditions including remuneration for public servants by the recognized majority trade union, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU). This Union under the Presidency of Patrick Yarde for 30 years, initiated industrial actions during the tenure of the PPP/C administration to advance the interest of its members, and complained bitterly about the failure by the parties to agree to new or revised terms and conditions for Public Servants. The Union blamed this situation on the Government’s uncompromising position, notwithstanding the agreed mutual options of referring such disputes to conciliation, and for final resolution by Arbitration. The then Administration awarded annual wages and salary increases without the agreement of the GPSU.
This situation has not changed after two years in office of the new APNU+AFC administration. After an initial start of negotiations and no agreement with the Union, the new Government arbitrarily, awarded wages and salaries increases to Public Servants – again, like the situation during the previous administration, without resort to conciliation, and for finality by Arbitration. In the meantime the leadership of the GPSU is pre-occupied with internal union functions rifled with controversies, and with Patrick Yarde and Union Executive, Patricia Went, cherishing and defending their obvious conflict of interest positions as members of the Public Service Commission (PSC).
The APNU-AFC administration continues to ignore this basic principle in the composition of the PSC, compounded the unsatisfactory action of swearing in Patrick Yarde to a non-existing Constitutional position as Acting Chairman of the PSC, and consequently as a member of the Judicial Service Commission. When will the GPSU resume negotiations to finality?
Under the Trade Union Recognition Act No. 33 of 1097 the GPSU was granted the Certificate of Recognition by the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board as the bargaining agent for Public Servants. It is legally a compulsory recognition and duty of the public Authority and the GPSU to treat with each other. The Act states that:
“Where the Board certifies a trade union as the recognized majority union, the employer shall recognize the union, and the union and the employer are obligated to bargain in good faith and enter into negotiations with each other for the purpose of collective bargaining; Failure or refusal on the part of either the trade union or the employer to comply with any of the above requirements (Section 23) constitutes an offence and liable on summary conviction to payment of fines.”
The parties could be challenged in Court for this failure; and the leadership of GPSU can be sued by members for the Union’s failure to negotiate in good faith to finality in a timely manner. The public and the membership of the Union can expect the usual public relations statements of concern coming from the leadership of the Union, constrained by state patronage, and influenced by the politics of Guyana’s labour relations.
The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) 2016, under the Chairmanship of Professor Harold Lutchman, called attention to the essential principles impacting on industrial relations in the Public Service with reference to fundamental freedoms flowing from the Constitution, labour laws, and international labour standards ratified by Guyana as Treaties. The CoI also cited the relevant articles on labour issues from CARICOM Treaty, its Charter of Civil Society, and its Declaration of Labour and Industrial Relations Principles. The CoI further outlined the Fundamental Principles and Rights including the right to freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining as contained in ILO Conventions N0. 87, No. 98 and No. 151.
The CoI affirmed that “We fully accept that, in keeping with the Constitution and labour laws, international and regional treaty obligations, the restoration of collective bargaining must be accepted as an obligation to be honoured by the state.”
The CoI after review of relevant information and evidence presented and as outlined in the COI Report, accordingly recommended:
1) That the principles outlined in the CoI Report should be stringently applied to all Public bodies charged with the conduct of Industrial Relations.
2) That Collective Bargaining with the GPSU and the relevant Public Authorities be restored in keeping with the Union’s legally recognized status under the Trade Union Recognition Act Chapter 98:07 (No. 33 of 1997), and ratified ILO Conventions No. 87, and No. 151.
3) That the Public Authorities and the GPSU return to collective bargaining through the established, institutional and procedural arrangements in keeping with the principles of good faith in collective bargaining, and consistent with provisions of ratified ILO Convention No. 151 on Labour Relations in the Public Service.
4) That Wages and Salaries and allowances be agreed to by collective bargaining negotiations, ideally for agreements of a mutually agreeable period, taking into account the need to pay competitive, attractive, and comparable wages and salaries, having regard to the worth of the job, ability to pay, and the impact on the national economy.
5) That the parties negotiate allowances which should be based on realistic costs and settled at the level of the Department of the Public Service.
6) That consideration be given to the suitability of establishing such a model (the Trinidad and Tobago Constitutional Model) in Guyana for the determination of remuneration for high level Political and Public Service Offices, including Permanent Secretaries, Regional Executive Officers, Regional Chairpersons, Members of the National Assembly, Ministers, Prime Minister, Vice-Presidents, and the President. (This is a successful model in Trinidad and Tobago for many years now. This would also remove a major source of self-interest and conflict of interest of members of the Public Service negotiating team which falls under of the bargaining unit of the GPSU as the sole bargaining agent also for them).
7) That disputes in wages and salaries resulting in an impasse at negotiations and at conciliation should be referred to a new, final mechanism of a Public Service Wages and Salaries Commission which would be required to make recommendations to the National Assembly within a set time frame.
8) That the Labour Act, Chapter 98:01, Section 4, be amended after consultation with the GPSU, to make such effective provisions for the establishment by the Minister of a Wages and Salaries Commission to review wages and salaries disputes upon an impasse at conciliation, and to make recommendations to the National Assembly. (This can alternatively be done administratively in consultation with the GPSU)
9) That Public Authorities, like the private sector, observe in practice, the laws on labour and employment relations in the Public Service.
10) That Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments should be charged with the responsibility of ensuring workplaces and workstations are in keeping with the guidelines as stated above. (in the CoI Report. It is also the responsibility of the GPSU)
11) That the Department of the Public Service conduct inspections of all buildings, offices and workstations at least twice a year to ensure the standards referred to above (in the CoI Report) are maintained, and if necessary improved.
Joshua Singh

---

---