‘Fruitful talks’

…Gov’t, GPSU hold talks on pay hike, allowances

MINISTER of Social Protection Amna Ally, along with Minister of State Dawn Hastings-Williams and Minister of Public Service Tabitha Sarabo-Halley on Tuesday met with top leaders of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) to discuss enhanced remuneration and other benefits for public servants.

Attending the meeting for the GPSU were the President, Mr. Patrick Yarde, and Vice- President Ms. Dawn Gardener. The meeting was held at Minister Ally’s East and Lamaha Streets office. According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the meeting was cordial and fruitful.

The much-anticipated salary increase announcement for 2019, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan said, will be made this week. While not stating the exact amount public servants will receive, the finance minister said that it will reflect a more than 75 per cent increase in wages and salaries for the period 2015-2019.

“Look at the space of time. We started increasing salaries from the first of July 2015. And the last increase was retroactive to January 1, 2018,” Minister Jordan said, adding: “In two-and-a-half years, we would have increased salaries by over 64 per cent. By the time we are finished with salaries for this year, I can guarantee you that between July 1, 2015 and January 1, 2019, it will be over 75 per cent increase.”

The increase, he assured his audience, will be paid retroactive from January 2019.

Minister Jordan was at the time addressing residents of Kwakwani at a community outreach held at the Kwakwani Workers’ Club. He was accompanied by Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman.
Over the last four years, public servants have benefited from a more than 60 per cent increase in wages and salaries, and more than 50 per cent increase in the minimum wage.
In 2018, government had approved increases for all public servants, ranging from 0.5 per cent to 7 per cent. He had also presented a $300.7B budget for 2019, an increase of 12.6 per cent when compared with 2018.

While expressing his satisfaction with government’s achievements since taking office in 2015, the finance minister said that more could have been done for Guyanese, if the government was not burdened with over $40B in payout to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). “If I had that money, you know what I could have done with it; I could have done many, many things, certainly substantial development,” Minister Jordan told the residents.

Notwithstanding the challenges he faced, the Finance Minister assured the residents of Kwakwani that the future is bright for not only public servants but all Guyanese, with the Oil-and-Gas Industry on the horizon. In this regard, he urged the residents of Kwakwani and, by extension all Guyanese, not to be shortsighted, but to give the government a chance to finish the business of providing a better quality of life for them.

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