The same measure used to pay Cabinet ministers and members of parliament must apply to remaining government workers, General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, Lincoln Lewis has said, amid growing disquiet by the union on wages talks.
Recent remarks by Finance Minister Winston Jordan that public service workers should not expect big salary increases have alarmed the union and it has expressed concern that his remarks may prejudice negotiations on wage increases and said it was inappropriate. Subsequently, the Guyana Public Service Union said it had written President David Granger regarding Jordan’s statements and what it said was the “protracted delay” in the start of wage negotiations between the union and government.
In a statement on Saturday, Lewis said the Human Development Index (HDI) that was used to determine salary increases for Cabinet and MPs who are government workers, must also be used as the barometer in determining wages and salaries for the remaining government workers.
“When this administration paid Cabinet and Members of Parliament increases in 2015, such were justified based on the HDI. The government and its spokespersons in justifying the increases did not make an argument on the strength of the economy to pay. The argument they made was premised on the social factors in society. In fact, what the government did is use the factor in the HDI to pay themselves, but now the government is conveniently using the GDP as the instrument to determine how rank and file workers will be paid increases in wages and salaries. These double standards must not be allowed to permeate the society,” he declared.
On Wednesday, Jordan had said that while public servants will receive an increase in salaries before the country’s next budget is presented, Guyana has been warned by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to monitor its spending and has been heeding the advice. “We have been urged to keep a close look at our current spending. This also is what we have ourselves been keeping a close eye on so what the Fund has done is more or less re-emphasise, more or less, what we have been doing. There is no way we can be spending out of control given the scenarios that we have as it relates to revenues and how we do mobilise our resources,” he said.
Jordan’s message to public servants is to be understanding that government cannot at this time afford hefty increases. “As an economist and the Minister of Finance, I can only say that I agree with the IMF on this particular front and from (the) time I came in, I have been advising caution as it relates to wage increases and meeting exaggerated demands for wage increases. Even in good times, paying exaggerated salaries have serious short and long term impacts,” he said.
Trigger
Critics have said that the government’s decision last year to award Cabinet ministers a 50% pay hike would likely trigger demands from other sectors for similar increases. The 50% pay hike came in for searing criticism for months.
In a further response, following an initial statement from the union, Lewis said that Jordan’s stance that he is guided by the IMF position on the issue of wages and salaries for public sector workers cannot be allowed to go unnoticed. “The IMF is a regulatory body and advises a country. The IMF does not dictate for any country. To take an advice as a mandate is to abrogate the responsibility to work with stakeholders in chartering a direction indigenous to the people’s needs. The minister can well learn from history,” he said.
The GPSU executive recalled that in 1999 at the conclusion of the 57-day strike by public sector workers, the PPP/C administration conceded to go to arbitration. At the conclusion of this exercise the arbitrators led by Dr Aubrey Armstrong awarded a 30 percent wage increase, which was far in excess of what was recommended by the IMF. The PPP/C administration went to the IMF and advised of the need to pay based on an agreement between the government and workers. This was accepted by the IMF, the Inter-American Bank (IDB) and World Bank, and the workers were paid, Lewis recalled.
He pointed out that the APNU+AFC administration is on record saying it is pursuing a Green Economy, which according to international standards is measured on the HDI. The IMF is measuring growth and development by using Gross Domestic Products (GDP). “Since this administration has been elected to manage the country, it is instructive to note that while it is pursuing development along the lines of the Green Economy it is allowing itself to be dictated by an external agency using different instrument to measure growth and development,” Lewis observed.
He said that conscious of what the government’s argument was as it relates to the increases in 2015, when the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) met with the Minister of Finance on the issue of budget consultation for 2016, GTUC deliberately structured its presentation based on the Green Economy and not the GDP.
“The minister commended the GTUC and referred to the presentation as “thinking outside of the box.” GTUC is an organisation of national character and the presentation was made conscious of our role in shaping and influencing the national policies, programmes and laws that would redound to the benefit of workers, past, present and potential,” Lewis declared.
He said that the process of collective bargaining is constitutional and legal. “Section 23 (1) of the Trade Union Recognition Act speaks to the responsibility of the employer to negotiate in good faith with the workers’ representatives. In this case, more than ever the Government of Guyana is called upon to respect the law and the workers’ rights and negotiate with the public sector unions in good faith,” he said.
