-calls made for Gov’t to honour campaign promises

By Svetlana Marshall

GOVERNMENT’s final offer of a one-to-10 per cent increase in salaries for public servants has been met with mixed reactions, and there have been calls for the percentage increase for the lower level of workers to be upped.Government last week said it was prepared to pay a 10 per cent increase to persons earning $99,000 or less; six per cent to persons earning between $100,000 and $299,000; five per cent to public servants earning between $300,000 and $799,000; two per cent to those earning between $800,000 and $999,000; and one per cent to those earning above $1M.

Since entering office, the administration has paid a five percent increase to public servants; awarded a $50,000 tax-free bonus, and raised the minimum wage. In addition, there have been several other measures taken, including a hike in Old Age Pension and Public Assistance, among other incentives.

The 10% increase is also the highest offer Government has made to public servants in close to two decades. The former administration had frequently imposed pay increases of not more than 5% throughout its term in office.

INSUFFICIENT
However, General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Lincoln Lewis, has said the 10 per cent cannot suffice. “Government needs to explore all avenues to pay more,” Lewis told this newspaper.

Referring to a historical situation, Lewis said that in the 1960s, while speaking from two separate manifestos, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham and Peter D’Aguiar had committed to pay public servants an increase in their wages and salaries. When the first budget of the Peoples National Congress/United Force coalition government was read, D’Aguiar, while acknowledging that the economy was in a bad shape, announced an increase for public servants in keeping with the commitment made.

The Government of the day, Lewis maintains, must live up to its promise to the people. Alluding to the technique employed to offer a higher percentage to the lower paid public servants, Lewis said, “The principle may not be bad, but the percentage is; it is not appropriate.”

Political commentator and Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram said public servants, particularly those who work at the lower levels, deserve more than a 10 per cent increase. “Public servants work very hard at the lower levels, and deserve more than a 10 per cent,” Ram told this newspaper.

He said that if Government is to address the issue of brain drain, it must be willing to pay much more. “You can’t continue paying Public Servants those kinds of wages and expect them to be productive, honest and committed,” Ram reasoned.

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), in response, has said it would decide on Government’s final offer during its General Council Meeting set for September 2. The union has, however, maintained that its focus remains the provision of “a living wage” for public servants.

Over the years, the union has been calling on Government to increase wages and salaries to a livable level, resolve the issue of debunching within the salary scales, and address the inadequacy of allowances paid to public servants.

EXCELLENT OFFER
Commentator Ramson Gaskin has said he is in support of the technique being employed by Government. Gaskin said the idea of giving higher increases to lowly paid public servants is an excellent one, and that he had made a similar proposal in 1999. “I support the idea to pay workers at the bottom a higher rate than those at the top…I support it. Do it for the nurses, police and army as well,” he posited.

For his part, former Labour Minister Dr. Henry Jeffrey, in an interview with Guyana Chronicle, rubbished the offer made, saying it was unacceptable
“It makes no sense; they must be losing it,” Dr. Jeffrey said when approached on the issue.

He recalled that the APNU+AFC coalition had promised “significant increases” in the salaries of public servants in the lead-up to the 2015 General and Regional Elections. “Instead,” he said, “they gave themselves a 50 per cent increase and offer public servants a 10 per cent increase.”

However, Dr. Jeffrey said it is up to the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) to accept or reject the offer made by Government. “It is for GPSU to determine what should be done. They will certainly get the support of the country if they take some sort of industrial action,” Dr. Jeffrey said.

Meanwhile, at the party’s weekly press conference at Freedom House on Monday, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Clement Rohee lashed out at the Union, saying it was likely to side with Government. “Knowing the track record of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), it will mostly likely go along with the Government’s final offer on the basis of some lame excuse. This will be tantamount to another betrayal of the workers’ interest,” Rohee said.

He said the GPSU must come clean, and in the interest of transparency and accountability explain to its members the true state of affairs in respect to the outcome of the negotiations, and how the ‘final offer’ was arrived at.

Rohee also said the David Granger Administration must explain the total cost of the increases. “The PPP calls on the Granger Administration to explain to the nation what is the total cost of the one-to-ten per cent increase, having regard to the public boast by Prime Minister Nagamootoo who, at the 2016 May Day Rally, declared that Government had set aside $43.8 billion and $6.63 billion in benefits and allowances in the 2016 budget, as increases in wages and salaries for public servants.

Moreover, he said, the question that is to be asked is whether Government’s final offer is “reflective of the twenty (20) percent increase that was promised to public servants in the APNU+AFC 2015 election manifesto.”