President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) Patrick Yarde has accused the government of continuing to procrastinate when it comes to addressing the issue of wages and salaries for public servants.
It has been more than two years now since the Irfaan Ali government ascended to the seat of power and it is yet to commence the process of collective bargaining with the GPSU. The Union said that it has written to the government, several times but is yet to secure a commitment.
In August, President Ali met with GPSU’s First Vice President Dawn Gardener where they had an “engagement”.
On Thursday, Yarde told Stabroek News that the government has made no move to initiate the conversation despite repeated requests from the Union.
“I would say bluntly no [the government have not made any move]. What the government has been doing is procrastinating in dealing with the matter even though we have a legally binding agreement, even though the Parliament of Guyana has ratified several ILO [International Labour Organisation] conventions dealing with these matters [and] even though there are labour laws with respect to how to treat with areas that the Guyana Public Service Union have got recognition.
“It is the most difficult thing we have experienced with governments and that is respecting the process. There are bilaterals and if there is deadlock you go to conciliation and if conciliation is not successful, you go to arbitration. The government seems as though they deal purely with handouts,” Yarde said.
He added that the government is known to “arbitrarily” impose its will on the public service without going through legal channels. He accused the government of only utilizing the laws when it is in their interest.
“…when it comes to the rights of other persons, other citizens, other organizations, especially trade unions they [government] act in conflict with their obligation to treat and deal with those matters. We have written to the government [requesting the commencement of the collective bargaining process] but they are not addressing the issue of negotiations of wages and salaries for our members,” he said.
Efforts to reach out to Minister of Public Service Sonia Parag were unsuccessful.
In the past, PPP/C governments have made unilateral increases in public servants’ salaries by around 5% annually without collective bargaining with the GPSU and other unions.
Despite promises that it would restore collective bargaining, the APNU+AFC government from 2015 to 2020 also imposed unilateral increases.
Section 23(1) of the Trade Union Recognition Act of 1997 states “Where a trade union obtains a certificate of recognition for workers comprised in a bargaining unit in accordance with this Part, the employer shall recognize the union, and the union and the employer shall bargain in good faith and enter into negotiation with each other for the purpose of collective bargaining.”
Guyana is a signatory to the ILO conventions on settling labour disputes and the GPSU has frequently accused the government of flouting both the law and the ILO conventions. Since the PPP/C took office in August of 2020, the GPSU has been writing and calling on the government to commence negotiations regarding salaries and other benefits.
Yarde previously described the Government’s actions as “discriminatory” while pointing out that the GPSU has written several times since 2020 requesting collective bargaining on public servants’ wages, salaries and allowances to no avail.
On November 19 last year, the Minister of Public Service said that the government was “pressed for time” before it announced its 7% increase for public servants, resulting in the union not being consulted. The Minister made the comment during a brief telephone interview with the Stabroek News.
“We did engage with the GPSU where they proposed certain increases and we told them that we would have to get back to them on and discuss further on but time did not permit me, because the exercises (GOAL Scholarships etc were) going on,” Parag said.
Since then, nothing has been heard from Parag or the government on collective bargaining for 2022.
The union had also raised concerns about the manner of allocation of resources by the government.
In August, President Ali said that the meeting with Gardener was not only centred around salaries but a comprehensive strategy to improve public servants’ lives.
In the wide-ranging discussion, he said, the views were exchanged on the possibilities of workers being able to own their own homes, having access to better standards in terms of health education and support for their children going to school.
Questioned whether this discussion would have been in breach of the bargaining process as outlined by the International Labour Organisation, Ali responded in the negative.
“It was a conversation and that conversation can lead to parties presenting their position, and then we can move to an official structure…It was an open discussion…,” he said.
