Stop pussyfooting ...Protesting GPL workers tell management over broken promises

Stop pussyfooting …Protesting GPL workers tell management over broken promises

Mar 29, 2018 News

GPL managers protesting outside the Main Street commercial office.

Dozens of junior and senior managers at Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) yesterday picketed the Main Street office demanding that management uphold agreements made during negotiations with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU).
The workers accused the state-owned utility company of failing to meet with their union representatives, and to follow through on promises regarding allowances and salary increases. Some of the outstanding matters date back to 2016.
Patricia Went, GPSU’s Principal Industrial Relations Officer explained that GPL management is acting in ‘bad faith’.
“We signed off on an agreement in 2016 which stated that the allowances for 2016 were outstanding. It was signed off between us and management. When we reached to sign off on the agreement, management is now saying that they did not given commitments for allowances retroactive for 2016; they are only recognizing 2017,” Went stated.
Workers held placards that among other things called on GPL management to ‘stop pussyfooting’ and ‘pay the managers’.
Went explained that the negotiations started in December 2016 with a signed agreement reached on pay increases for that year. According to Went, they also agreed to discuss allowances in 2017.
There were also disagreements over a 3% scaled increment which was reinstated and should have been paid from January 2017. The automatic increment, according to Went, was based on a previous proposal from GPL’s management that is paid every January to avoid bunching.
“Management claimed not to understand how that was applied. We were to commence negotiations in 2017 and we indicated that we would not proceed until the 3% was paid. It was stretched out the entire 2017 and only in December it was paid,” Went explained.
She claimed that the two sides met in January of this year and agreed to commence discussions on across the board increases and the outstanding areas, including the allowances for 2016.
According to Went, when the union received the draft agreement from GPL based on their meeting, the outstanding allowances for 2016 were omitted.
“They were reneging on some other areas that we had reached agreement on previously. We had a problem with the draft agreement and we have been unable bring this matter to a close, because management refuses to uphold their end of the agreement,” Went stated.
A meeting earlier this month failed to break the gridlock. GPL has agreed to meet with the union on April 10, a date the union finds unacceptable, given the urgency of the situation.
“These are monies that are outstanding for a very long time. Why the long delay in having this meeting. They are procrastinating. This is an urgent matter and we wanted to bring to management’s attention the seriousness of our position,” Went stated.