MINISTER of Business, Dominic Gaskin, is coming under fire for his position on the 10 per cent increase in wages and salaries being offered to public servants by Government.At a recent press conference held by the Alliance For Change (AFC), Gaskin contended that public servants in Guyana are being paid a lot more than many persons living in other developing countries. But his position did not sit well with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU). In a strongly worded statement, the GPSU said Minister Gaskin’s remarks could undermine negotiations on Public Service wages, salaries and allowances.

“There appears to be no end to counterproductive interventions by officials of Government not directly involved in the ongoing negotiations with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) on the issue of increased wages and salaries for public servants. To seek to compromise these negotiations through periodic outbursts that are ill-informed and unnecessary is unethical,” the union stated on Monday.

According to the union, it did not bargain for this type of behaviour, and it is questioning whether or not the David Granger Administration has a single position on the issue of a living wage for public servants.

“That question arises from the awkward and insensitive interventions made first by Finance Minister Winston Jordan prior to the start of the negotiations, (during which he appeared unilaterally to want to determine the extent of the increase that would result from the talks) and more recently by Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin,” the GPSU stated.

According to the union, the Business Minister’s utterances are extremely prejudicial to the kind of negotiating environment to which both the Government and the GPSU have publicly subscribed.

Describing his comments as both ill-informed and misleading, GPSU said Minister Gaskin should desist from making loose statements without any supporting evidence, as it alluded to the issue surrounding developing countries.

“Is Mr. Gaskin allowing himself the liberty of such a pronouncement simply because he is aware that there is no obligation on his part to put persuasive supporting evidence on the table?

“In other respects, too, the Minister appears less than properly informed of the outcome which the current wages and salaries’ negotiations seek to realize. Like his colleague minister, he, too, advances the utterly fallacious notion that the optimal outcome of the talks has to do with (as he puts it) ‘what can be afforded’.”

Contrary to statements made by the Business Minister, the GPSU is contending that many public servants are paid wages and salaries which cannot meet their essential needs.

“In closing, the GPSU wishes to wonder aloud about the absence of these kinds of interventions – alluding to the issue of affordability – during last year’s intense public discourse that preceded the 50% salary increase for Ministers. Indeed, are we not entitled to conclude, therefore, that somehow public servants are less entitled to adequate compensation for their efforts in service of the Government than others who do so at much greater compensation, the issue of affordability notwithstanding?”