GPSU calls Govt. to the table for salary negotiations

Mar 18, 2021 News

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By Rehanna Ramsay

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) is calling on Government to commence outstanding negotiations for increased wages, salaries and allowances for 2020 and 2021 for public service workers.
During a media conference held at its headquarters yesterday, officials of the GPSU revealed that on March 11, 2021, a letter was sent to the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Public Service Ministry (PSM), Ms. Soyinka Grogan, to remind the government of its obligation to start the negotiations.
According to the GPSU, a copy of the correspondence was forwarded to President, Irfaan Ali; Prime Minister, Mark Phillips; Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh; and Minister of the Public Service, Ms. Sonia Parag.
Dawn Gardner, Second Vice President of the GPSU, noted that negotiations are required as part of the Memorandum of Agreement between the GPSU and Government for the Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes.
According to Gardner, the Union had since September 1, 2020 submitted proposals to the Government, but in the only meeting held on the November 4, 2020 between Union representatives and the Government delegation led by the Minister of Public Service, Ms. Parag, the Union was told that the Minister had no mandate to discuss the matter of wages, salaries and allowances with the GPSU.
Gardener said that subsequently, the GPSU submitted on February 3, 2021, extensive proposals to be considered for inclusion in the 2021 Budget.
She said that the Union was however not invited by the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance to ventilate these proposals, which were viewed as a departure of both pre and post-elections commitment by the administration for inclusiveness.
“At this stage, we would wish to state emphatically one of the duties of the employer (the Government) is to ensure that the worker’s self-esteem and dignity are always protected. No full time worker, whether in the public or private sector, should be forced by their employer to live in poverty as experienced in the public service of Guyana.
Wages that doomed the worker to poverty deprives the employer of a motivated worker and correspondently the quality of service which the employer expects and the consuming public deserves. Poverty robs the worker and his family of their self-esteem, right to dignity and a decent life. These deficiencies are root causes of undesirable developments in society and any enlightened government should ensure that such undesirable social occurrences do not occur,” asserted Gardner.
Cognizant of the foregoing and desirous of attaining a meritorious standard of living for public service workers, she said that the GPSU constructed a basket of expenditures of goods and services in 2008, which is necessary to provide the average person with the basic needs of food, shelter, transportation, among others.
“This was reviewed periodically as the bench mark in the GPSU pursuit of a living wage as the base payment of a public service worker. However, the minimum wage which was derived from this exercise is not being paid by the government. The GPSU demands that the minimum wage of a public servant must be a living wage,” she continued.
The GPSU official noted too that that public service workers have had no increase in earnings since January 2019, which is more than two years ago.
She said that public servants have gone through the entire 2020 without an increase. “Additionally, they have not been subjected to a variety of other encounters with no considerations of relief being given to the hardships they experience, nor difficult economic circumstances they endured even though during this period there were increases in revenue in the government coffers. This was revealed in the Estimates of Current and Capital Revenue and Expenditure 2021. The revenue referred to above, is distinct and separate from revenue received from the proceeds of oil,” Gardner explained.
She said too that GPSU had proposed in the budget for the reduction on the rate of taxes paid by individuals (PAYE). The GPSU official revealed that it was also submitted in its budget proposals for 2021 that the tax threshold should be $120,000.00.
“It is difficult to comprehend why there was no reduction in taxes and why is it that company taxes are at flat rate of 25 percent, lower than PAYE lowest level which is 28 percent and increases to 40 percent after the next $120,000 approximately, on all additional earnings,” Gardner opined.
She noted too those workers, particularly frontline workers, who are at life threatening risk, in the hospitals, airports, seaports, and at locations with similar exposures, were subjected to these encounters with insensitive responses to their conscientiousness in discharging their duties.
She added that “The GPSU would be pursuing that the government pay a risk allowance with effect from at least March 2020.”
Among the other issues raised on behalf of public servants, Gardner said, were issues related to de-bunching and the payment of increments, adequate re-organizing of offices to cater for social distancing, provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) to all staff members, which at the very minimum requires daily quotas of sanitizers and face masks.

 

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