June 23, 2016 Source

The APNU+AFC government yesterday formally proposed differentiated increases for public servants rather than the customary across-the-board hike and the GPSU has agreed to “explore” this.

Earlier in the month, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) had raised concerns that the government seemed to be moving in this direction following a statement by President David Granger. The union had subsequently sought clarification.

With the start to long-awaited talks between the two sides yesterday, agreements setting certain parameters for negotiations were reached between the government and the GPSU.

A joint press release from the union and the government yesterday said that there was agreement for the initiation of a committee to make recommendations to the negotiating team on allowances for public servants “as soon as possible.”

On Tuesday, GPSU head Patrick Yarde had told reporters at a press briefing that the union was seeking to bargain for a 40% increase in salaries. He had also said that the union was concerned that no mention was made by government about allowances.

But yesterday, Minister of State Joe Harmon told reporters at a post-Cabinet press briefing that while allowances will be dealt with, the preference was to deal with wages and salaries first.

The government prefers “a sequential process engaged in these negotiations that we do not lump wages and salaries with allowances. Our preference was to take it consecutively and we wrote [to] the GPSU last night [Tuesday] indicating that there is no intention at all to move away from allowances.”

He added, “We did say that over 20 years’ allowances had not been touched. We could not now say in our first year of government we are not going to touch allowances. Wages and salaries and allowances will be dealt with but we prefer to deal with them one by one.”

Meanwhile, the parties also agreed to the establishment of a bargaining unit to consist of persons employed under the Department of the Public Service and Public Service Commission including those on contract.

The release also said that there was agreement to explore the government’s proposal “for the differentiated approach to replace the across-the-board percentage increase.”

Earlier this month, President Granger said that pay should be linked to performance. “We have to go back to a standard where performance of individuals is related to promotion and pay. We have fallen into the trap of across-the-board benefits; people feel that simply by going to work they will benefit. They are like a rudderless ship floating on an ocean of goodwill. Many people who expect that there is going to be some bonanza, I hope they discover that the bonanza will come from their own efforts… If they want to be lazy, they will get a lazy person’s salary… If they work hard, they will be rewarded,” Granger had said.

The GPSU head had also said that the union was awaiting clarification from government on the $6 billion allocated in the 2016 National Budget under the head ‘other employment costs.’

In March, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan had said that public service workers should not expect big salary increases. He had said that Guyana had been warned by the International Monetary Fund to monitor its spending and had been heeding the advice. Jordan had urged public servants to be understanding that government cannot at this time afford hefty increases.

The GPSU chief had also said that the union was seeking the reintroduction of the increment system and pursuing de-bunching regarding salary bands.

The GPSU and the government team will meet again on June 27, to continue negotiations and a joint statement to the press will be issued once a consensus is reached, the release said.