The government yesterday announced that it has approved a 5% across-the-board increase in salaries and wages retroactive to January 1, 2012 for all public servants.
In a statement issued by the Government Information Agency (GINA), it said that the decision was taken by the government to “avoid the disappointment of workers who have expectations of a salary increase payout, before Chrismas.” It added that the government said it wished to reiterate its commitment to “ensuring that workers receive a living wage, and will continue its participation in the ongoing negotiations between the workers’ representatives and the Govern-ment with the intention of ultimately arriving at a Multi-Year Wages and Salary Agreement.”
The eligible public servants, according to the statement, are those employed in ministries, departments not under ministerial control, regional administrations as wellas those who are engaged on contracts against positions reflected on the inventory of the traditional public service and those who are contracted against positions that are not on the inventory.
The government has arbitrarily assigned wage increases for public servants for over a decade now.
Last week, President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) Patrick Yarde told a news conference that after months of futile wage negotiations, the union was willing to accept a 9% interim payout from government, failing which the workers will resort to industrial action.
Yarde said that at the latest meeting between the government and the GPSU on wages and other conditions on Monday, November 12, 2012, the Public Service Ministry put nothing on the table.
As a result, he said that if the government did not come forward with positive wage talks, then the union will direct its workers to take industrial action to make their demands known.
Yarde had earlier told this newspaper of his dismay that government was not acting in good faith in the negotiations, in which the GPSU sought wage increases of 25% and other conditions for public servants as well as firm commitments from government for serious discussions on the proposals made since 2009.
