With government unilaterally announcing wage increases for public servants for a third straight year in the absence of collective bargaining, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) yesterday called the decision by the Irfaan Ali-led administration unconstitutional and discriminatory.
“This arbitrary announcement is being done in conflict with the Constitution and Laws of Guyana, International Labour Organisation core Conventions and the Declaration of Fundamental Rights and Principles of Workers and the legally binding Collective Labour Agreements between the Guyana Public Service Union and the Government of Guyana. It is also in conflict with all guiding principles of any organization that has working class credentials,” GPSU yesterday said in a statement in reaction to the announcement.
Further, the union said the “miniscule” increase totally ignores the astronomical increase in cost of living and current inadequate earnings of workers, who have been providing quality public services. As a result, it said the labour debt that is owed to the workers by the PPP/C government must be paid.
“Workers should treat any handout that is being made available to them as an interim payment and it must be tax free like all other handouts given to PPP/C supporters,” the union said.
President Irfaan Ali on Thursday night announced an 8 per cent increase, retroactive from January 2022 for all public servants and government pensioners.
In an address to the nation, Ali also telegraphed further improvements for certain categories of workers including policemen and health care workers.
“…I have instructed that options be identified for adjustment to the salaries paid to a number of specific categories of public sector employees. These include, in the first phase, ranks of the Police Force, Prison Service, and Fire Service. Additionally, a similar exercise is currently being conducted and recommendations being made in relation to specific categories of employees in our public healthcare system, including nurses, interns, doctors, and other healthcare professionals. In relation to these categories of employees, I am planning to make a more detailed announcement during the course of next week”, the President said.
For its part, the GPSU said the continued imposition of increases reflects an unsympathetic, unenlightened and backward approach by the PPP/C government, flying in the face of modern industrial relations. It also warned that the government’s current approach could lead to workers being more confrontational, which could ultimately lead to the creation of further ethnic divisions in the society.
The GPSU, which has been pleading with the government to enter into wages and salary negotiations, also slammed the administration’s part-time hiring programme, while saying that persons are being paid for little to no work.
“The discriminatory use and squandering of public revenues, through selective handouts, including the forty thousand dollars ($40,000) a month payout to persons to appear in the workplaces for ten (10) days each month without any assigned duties, are being undertaken in the face of wide spread suffering by the majority of Public Servants,” it said.
As a result, the GPSU called on all workers to “start preparation for the necessary struggle” for respect, fair and equal treatment and calls on the PPP/C Government to respect the rule of law and commence negotiations for wages, salaries and allowance for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, immediately.
When Stabroek News reached out to Public Service Minister Sonia Parag for an explanation on why the government had not completed negotiation with the union, she indicated that she was on a village walk and could not take the call.
Last year, when a 7% increase was announced by the government, GPSU President Patrick Yarde accused the government of deliberately sidelining the union.
“It is most unfortunate the display of lawlessness that has occurred but it was deliberate. They have no respect for other organisations that they have obligations to discuss these things with and it is most unfortunate. They only have regards for the laws that applies to their status and their legitimacy and nothing else. This is a worrying situation because in this modern day this is the autocratic approach we are dealing with,” the GPSU leader had said during a telephone interview with the Stabroek News.
Up to last month, Yarde told Stabroek News that the government has made no move to initiate the conversation despite repeated requests from the Union.
In his announcement on Thursday night, President Ali said that Budget 2022, which was presented in Parliament by the Finance Minister on behalf of the Government on 26 January 2022, included financial provisions to meet the cost of a public service salary increase for 2022. This fact, he said, has been frequently reiterated by several members of the government over the course of the year since the enactment of Budget 2022.
The President did not however explain why the announcement of the increase was made in November when it had been provided for since January this year. Members of the public have complained that the cost of living has skyrocketed this year due to imported inflation, higher international fuel prices and supply chain issues among other factors.
Ali said that the commitment to pay an increase this year came against the backdrop of other measures implemented since the PPP/C assumed office in August 2020, all with the aim of improving disposable incomes to public sector employees and Guyanese at large.
He said that his government continues to value highly the “hard work that Government employees do every day in delivering services to the People of Guyana”.
He added that his Government “remains resolutely committed to ensuring that the lives of all Guyanese are improved steadily, and in a tangible and demonstrable manner, as we work towards realising national prosperity for the benefit of All Guyanese”.
