THE Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) on Thursday made it clear that the Government of Guyana’s “final offer” on the wages and salaries talks, will not be decided upon before the union’s General Council meeting that is to be held by September 2. “The pronouncement of the General Council will be communicated to the members, the Government of Guyana and the general public,” a statement from the union said. The GPSU has maintained that its focus remains the provision of “a living wage” for public servants. Over the years, the union has been calling on the government to lift wages and salaries to a living wage, resolve the issue of de-bunching within the salary scales as well as address the adequacy of allowances paid to public servants.

President of GPSU, Patrick Yarde

Negotiations between the APNU+AFC coalition government and the GPSU began in June this year and resulted in the government first offering a 5.5 per cent increase for public servants earning below $100,000. Government’s initial proposals were rejected by the GPSU.

The Government said the union had proposed a 40 per cent increase across the board for public servants, something the union has denied.

On the other hand, the Government said it had proposed a differentiated approach to the increases, so that the lower bands of public servants could benefit.

The Government is prepared to pay a 10 per cent increase to persons earning $99,000 or less; six per cent to persons who earn between $100,000 and $299,000; five per cent to public servants earning between $300,000 and $799,000; two per cent for those earning between $800,000 and $999,000; and one per cent for those earning above $1M.

Revenue and expenditure
However, the union maintains that during negotiations, a request was made for detailed information on several aspects of the government’s revenue and expenditure, which had not been provided. The union on August 9 proposed a three-year salary increase structure. As of January 1, 2016, the union proposed a flat increase of $7,500 monthly added to the salaries of public servants at December 31, 2015, as well as to the amount payable at the minimum and maximum of each of bands 1 – 14 of the Schedule of Salary in the Public Service; and a 25 per cent increase across the board to the salariesof all public servants, as well as the amount payable at the minimum and maximum of each of the bands 1- 14.

For 2017, it was proposed that there be a flat increase of $7,000 monthly added to the salaries of public servants at the end of December 2016, along with the amount payable at the minimum and maximum of each band. Additionally, a 20 per cent increase across the board on all salaries as at December 2016 for public servants, coupled with the amount payable at the minimum and maximum of each of the 14 bands.

In 2018, the GPSU recommended a flat increase of $9,000 monthly, added to the salaries at the end of the previous year as well as the amount payable at the minimum and maximum of each band. A 20 per cent across the board was also recommended in 2018.

The union noted that in each of the years an additional increase should be provided for to cover inflation as determined by the Bureau of Statistics.

Furthermore, the GPSU had called for the beginning of the de-bunching exercise immediately after the conclusion of the wages and salaries negotiations and proposed that after the first three years of service, public servants receive a one-month increase in wages and salaries and for every additional two years of service, one month’s increment be provided.

The union had also insisted that six months notification and information for appraisal criteria be given to public servants and a comprehensive exercise conducted to ensure that they are well acquainted with what they have to satisfy and/or confirm to. “Assessment should commence for performance in the year 2017,” the union urged.

In the case of allowances, the GPSU had reminded the government that Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, agreed last year to begin reviewing the allowances paid to public servants. It was agreed that a Tripartite Committee comprising representatives of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the union would be established. “There has been an inordinate delay in addressing this matter. Execution of same should commence from a current date (in 2016) and completed within two months,” the GPSU stated. Additionally, the reform of the Public Service must be done with specific reference to the organizational restructuring in the public service, coupled with a job-evaluation exercise of the posts.

“In this regard, it is the GPSU’s position that the findings and recommendations of all previous and current reports of committees, arbitration tribunals and the Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service of Guyana should form an adequate basis for the determination and completion of this exercise within the three-year period of the above proposal,” the GPSU said.

It is the GPSU’s position that no full-time worker, whether public or private sector, should be forced to “go hungry, without reasonable shelter, basic clothing and adequate leisure,” while noting that wages which dooms the worker to poverty deprives the employer of a motivated worker and correspondingly the quality and service which the public expects and deserves.

“Poverty robs the worker and his or her family of their self- esteem, right to dignity and a decent life, “the union stated. “The union’s argument in the struggle for a living wage for decades is that it helps to protect the workers at the lowest level of the socio-economic structure,” said the union, which is pushing not for a nominal wage, but a “real wage” determined by the cost of living.

The GPSU believes that for too long Guyana’s economy has been structured on a pattern of low wages which results in mass migration.

“We further believe that once the compensation pay for those at the bottom of the scale is taken care of, consequential increases and adjustments will satisfy the need for those at the top. The union is not unmindful of the immediate implication of implementing what a living wage should be and is prepared to support a multi-year approach [three years] to achieve this goal,” a statement from the union said.