After four days of consecutive strike action, it was business as usual yesterday at Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) offices around the country as workers returned to their jobs.
A check at the company’s Main Street offices yesterday revealed long lines of customers seeking to pay bills, purchase tokens, make queries and access the various other services provided by the company.
Reports also stated that at offices in Berbice and Essequibo, workers represented by the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) resumed their duties.
The strike action ended on Monday after Labour Minister Nanda Gopaul issued letters to both entities informing them of his decision to invoke arbitration. The decision was taken after both sides were unable to break the impasse over wage increases after months of negotiations.
GPL had offered NAACIE’s approximately 700 members a 5% increase, which includes a one percent across-the-board increase, performance incentive and an in-scale increase. NAACIE has maintained its demand for an 8% increase, as agreed in a 2001 agreement.
The company has stated that its inability to meet NAACIE’s demand is as a result of its precarious financial position caused by extremely high and still rising fuel costs.
In the letter to GPL and the union, Gopaul stated that the Arbitration Tribunal would comprise Justice Prem Persaud, who will serve as its Chair, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Guyana Dr. Gobind Ganga, and former Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU) General Secretary Grantley Culbard.
