-pay increase this year to be 10%, 8% next year
-deal also reached with UG unions
The Government of Guyana (GoG) and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) yesterday announced a two-year wages pact, the first major deal between the two sides since a crippling 1999 public service strike.
A joint statement from the two sides said that they were “pleased to announce that, after extensive discussions and negotiations, the two Parties have been able to conclude a multi-year agreement with respect to employment benefits for public servants for the years 2024 and 2025”.
These talks were conducted in secrecy and followed a strike ultimatum that had been issued by the GPSU. The government yesterday also announced that wage deals had been clinched with the two University of Guyana Unions: the UGWU and the UGSSA.
For two decades, the government has simply assigned a yearend increase to public servants despite protestations by the union over the absence of collective bargaining. However, this year’s 75-day strike by the teachers’ union and related court rulings forced the government to enter collective bargaining talks with the Guyana Teachers’ Union and other unions.
Signing on behalf of the GoG was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service, Soyinka Grogan, while the 1st Vice President, Dawn Gardener signed on behalf of GPSU.
The deal was first announced yesterday by President Irfaan Ali at a police breakfast.
A subsequent statement from the government said that public servants will benefit from:
A 10 percent salary increase to be paid to all public servants for 2024, retroactive to 1 January 2024, which amounts to a 35 percent cumulative salary increase over the four years from 2021 to 2024.
An 8 percent salary increase to be paid to all public servants for 2025, retroactive to 1 January 2025, which would amount to a 46 percent cumulative salary increase over the five years from 2021 to 2025.
The agreement also caters for:
Debunching of salaries within the public service with effect from 1 July 2024, in order to recognise longevity of service as follows:
Public servants on GS:1-6 with a minimum of 4 years of service within their current scale will be moved to the midpoint of that scale, resulting in an increase as much as 13 percent for eligible public servants.
Public servants on GS:1-6 with a minimum of 8 years of service within their current scale will be moved to the maximum of that scale resulting in an increase as much as 26 percent for eligible public servants.
Public servants currently at the minimum of GS:7-8, upon attaining 4 years in their current scale, will be paid an additional monthly amount equivalent to the nominal difference between the minimum and midpoint of GS:6. resulting in an increase as much as 11 percent for eligible public servants.
Effective 1 January 2025, allowances will be introduced for persons who would have furthered studies in an area relevant to official duties:
Holders of ACCA will receive $15,000 monthly
Holders of a Master’s degree will receive $22,000 monthly
Holders of a Doctoral degree will receive $32,000 monthly
Increases were also agreed for the following allowances: uniform allowance travelling and subsistence allowance housing allowance station allowance risk allowance motor car and travel allowance
Granting of 100 duty-free concessions per annum for nursing staff from the position of staff nurse and above, with priority given to persons with the longest years of service and those who have never benefited from a duty-free concession, effective 1 January 2025.
Awarding of 100 scholarships annually to GPSU members to pursue undergraduate and post-graduate studies at the University of Guyana or at universities through Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), effective 1 January 2025.
The statement said that the multi-year agreement reflects the strong commitment of President Ali’s Government to improving the terms and conditions of the working people of Guyana.
The GoG and the GPSU reiterated their shared commitment to continued engagement in areas of mutual interest to further advance worker well-being.
The joint statement said that the discussions with the GPSU were overseen on the Government’s behalf by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh. The Minister in the statement expressed his “strong appreciation of the tone in which the discussions with the Union were held and of the diligence displayed by the GPSU team”. At the same time, he also conveyed appreciation of the hard work done by the Public Service Ministry team supported by the Ministry of Finance team in arriving at this favourable and historic outcome.
The joint statement added that Gardener who led the GPSU team in the discussions, also voiced the GPSU’s appreciation of the effort made by the GoG team and voiced the view that this agreement “augurs well for a new era in industrial relations in the public service”. Gardener also used the opportunity to recognize her own team’s dedication and effort towards the completion of this agreement.
President Ali welcomed the conclusion of this agreement and said that it represents the first agreement concluded by the GPSU with any Government in recent memory.
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Finance disclosed the deal with the university unions.
“In tandem, the Government is pleased to announce that earlier today, the University of Guyana Workers’ Union (UGWU) and the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) signed a historic three-year agreement. This accord delivers 10% salary increases in 2024, 8% in 2025, and 9% in 2026, ensuring parity with agreements concluded with the GTU”, the statement said.
Industrial action
On February 22nd this year, the Executive Council of the GPSU said it had unanimously decided at its Statutory Executive Council Meeting held on February 21, 2024, that an ultimatum be issued to the Government to meet at the bargaining table, the failure of which would result in industrial action to immediately end the government’s breach of the following guiding instruments of legal weight and force:
1. Agreement for the Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes, between the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Public Service Union of (1987),
2. Article 147 (3) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and
3. Section 23 (1) of the Trade Union Recognition Act Cap 97:07.
In addition, a release from the union said that the GPSU places reliance on the Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) ratified by the Parliament of Guyana, including Convention No. 87 concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, and Convention No. 151 on Labour Relations (Public Service) which espouses minimum standards of the conduct for Collective Bargaining and the protection of the rights of workers to be unionized and be to represented by their duly certified and recognized Union with respect to any decision on the part of their employer that affects their salaries, wages, benefits, and other conditions of service.
“This decision is also guided by the protections offered to workers in Guyana pursuant to the ILO’s ‘Declaration of the Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work’ of 1998 (as amended in 2022) which is of weight and in force under the Laws of Guyana as an unincorporated ratified treaty”, the release said.
The GPSU said that the issues affecting workers in the Public Service, and government’s reluctance to meet at the bargaining table, or to conciliate to break the deadlock that has arisen, were discussed extensively at the Union’s meeting on February 21, 2024, which resulted from meetings with its members throughout the country.
After the GPSU issued the ultimatum, Chief Labour Officer, Dhaneshwar Deonarine sought to excuse the Ministry of Labour’s inaction by producing advice from the Solicitor General Nigel Hawke dated February 21, 2024 stating that since the court had been approached by the union on the same matter, the court’s jurisdiction should prevail. Hawke had been written to about this matter on October 6th, 2023. There was no explanation from Hawke or Deonarine why the advice was only issued on February 21, 2024.
Based on documents released by the Ministry of Labour, the GPSU has been pressing for years on collective bargaining without a fruitful response by the Public Service Ministry.
GPSU President Patrick Yarde wrote to Deonarine on September 26th, 2023 declaring that there was a breakdown of industrial relations with the Ministry of Public Service.
Yarde wrote: “Unfortunately, despite several communications to Ms Soyinka Grogan, Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Ministry, there was no reply to our letter of May 9th 2023. The last meeting was on December 19, 2022. Since then, the issues raised in our letter of November 28, 2022 which includes revision of wages, salaries and allowances are yet to be ventilated in accordance with the provisions” of the Trade Union Recognition Act, ILO conventions and the agreement for the avoidance and settlement of disputes.
As a result, Yarde said that he was seeking the conciliation services of the ministry.
Deonarine never responded formally to Yarde but wrote to Hawke on October 6, 2023 adverting to the GPSU correspondence and stating that he had noticed that the GPSU had gone to court against the Public Service Ministry and Grogan seeking an order that the defendants enter meaningful negotiations with the GPSU. Deonarine then asked whether the matter would be sub judice and prevent the Chief Labour Officer from providing conciliation services. It was this letter that Hawke apparently only responded to on February 21, 2024 stating that Deonarine should yield to the court’s jurisdiction.
Prior to the GPSU’s issuing of its ultimatum, its General Secretary Kempton Alexander wrote to Deonarine on February 19, 2024 declaring that Deonarine had not even responded to the union’s letter of September 26, 2023 seeking conciliation.
“To date you, Chief Labour Officer, have not formally even acknowledged receipt of our letter.
“On two occasions in the presence of the Union’s 1st Vice President and other Executive Members you gave verbal acknowledgment and that you were awaiting legal advice on how to proceed with the Union’s request for conciliation before replying formally. According to the Memorandum of Agreement for the Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes between the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Public Service Union, the Ministry of Labour is now also in (breach) of the Agreement since more than fourteen (14) days have elapsed without action in the particular matter”, the union wrote.
It then went on to declare a loss of confidence in the Office of the Chief Labour Officer. The Ministry was them advised that this would be a substantive topic for discussion at the union’s executive council meeting on February 21 which eventually led to the decision for the issuance of an ultimatum against the government.
Alexander’s letter prompted a February 21 letter by Deonarine to Yarde formally acknowledging receipt of the September 26, 2023 letter “since it appears, from the tone of your General Secretary’s letter that the verbal acknowledgement might not have been appreciated”.
Deonarine then went on to cite Hawke’s advice about the jurisdiction of the court and rejected the union’s declared loss of confidence in him as unreasonable. He then asked for his correspondence to be shared with the union’s Executive Council since Alexander had advised that the matter would be discussed at the February 21st meeting.
Following its ultimatum, the GPSU went silent and did not respond to numerous inquiries from Stabroek News for updates on the situation.
