Kenneth Joseph, General Secretary of the National Association of Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), said the decision on whether or not to take industrial action against Guyana Power and Light (GPL) will be determined by the company’s decision to respect or disregard agreements made in 2001.
Under the agreements signed in 2001, GPL is to increase wages by 8% across the board, as opposed to the 1% proposed by the company, as well as increase the annual increment by 3% for 2012 and 2013. Joseph also said that the company had promised to make these and several other provisions in the 2001 agreement, but refused to follow through when it came time for implementation.
As a result, NAACIE presented the company with an ultimatum on January 25 this year, informing Minister of Public Service Dr Nanda Gopaul that serious action will be taken unless GPL agreed to honour the agreement it made with the union.
Joseph said a meeting was convened on Wednesday, February 20, between the union and the company to “thrash” out their issues. He said the meeting was fruitless since the company once again refused to honour the agreement.
Joseph said the inability of the two parties to come to an amicable solution forced the intervention of Gopaul, who chaired a meeting held between the two entities yesterday morning. Joseph said that Gopaul chastised GPL for not honouring the commitment it made, and urged the company’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to advise his company to respect and deal reasonably with the agreements that were signed.
GPL is to convey its decision on whether or not it intends to comply with the agreements by next Monday. “As long as these things happen we will be satisfied and will advise our members on the way forward. If it does not then the ultimatum still holds and members will be advised on the timing of any industrial action.”
