RECIEVING almost $32B in subsidy from the Guyana Government over the past six years, coupled with the fuel bill over the same period claiming on average, each year, some 72 per cent of its revenue, the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) says that it simply cannot afford to meet the demands of the National Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) with respect to wages increase.

NAACIE had initially made a demand of 25 per cent increase and the union has rejected the company’s offer of an inclusive 5 per cent across the board, an offer the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the power company, Winston Brassington, says is more than the company can readily afford.
Brassington is adamant that the increase offered to the employees affiliated with NAACIE is being met with subsidies provided by the government.
The GPL Chairman yesterday met with media operatives at the company’s executive secretariat in Kingston, where the official sought to present the facts as it relates to the company’s ability to meet the NAACIE demands.
According to Brassington, each NAACIE employee accounts for some $1.7M per year, which would add up to just about $1.5B in wages being paid to just NAACIE workers, “a significant amount.”
The Chairman of the Board of Directors in fact stated that the wage bill for the NAACIE workers represent the highest non-fuel expenditure for the company
“We find the strike to be unreasonable,” asserted Brassington, who was at the time addressing the local media corps, along with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Bharrat Dindyal.
According to Brassingon, the current five percent all inclusive offer rejected by NAACIE has to be looked at in the context of the company’s financial position, along with the increases over the years that the union has been agreeing to.
Between 2008 and 2010, a six per cent increase was paid each year, while in 2011, an eight per cent increase was agreed to.
Brassington yesterday told media operatives that the power company is hopeful that the situation will be amicable resolved in the coming days, and pointed to a high level meeting scheduled for today, between the union, the power company and the Ministry of Labour.
Brassington said that already the company has been in receipt of substantial amounts in loans from the Guyana Government, and reminded that the monies are for capital investments aimed at increasing its efficiency and reducing loss, among other objectives.
The monies, according to Brassington, have to be repaid and he accused NAACIE of peddling falsehoods.
He maintains that every dollar of an increase has to be met with a subsidy, “our offer is not unreasonable…it is much more than what we can afford.”
The Chairman said that any reasonable person would see that the company cannot afford a massive increase.
He said such a move would impact on the company’s investment and maintenance.
“GPL as an entity has not been generating the cash flow that it requires, and is dependent on the treasury for subsidy for its operations and for its capital investments.”
Brassington says too that as a result of the significant dependency on the treasury for subsidy, the increase has to be taken in context of what has happened across other government companies, and he pointed to the five per cent paid by the administration in other sectors.
Expanding on why offer an increase in face of the company’s current financial position, Brassington said, “We recognize that our workers are important and that some increase is expected, but we really can’t afford it.”
He reiterated that GPL is losing money and is being subsidized from the treasury, “so from that perspective, we don’t have money to pay, we can’t afford it.”
According to Brassington, while there are some employees who claim that the monies the company pays, “they don’t see all of that,” given that it is paid over to the National Insurance Scheme, among others, it still remains a cost to the company.
“That is what it cost the company…that is our real cost for employing them and it is a significant number.”
He suggested that as it relates to employees of the State across the sectors, GPL workers are among the better paid and he pointed also to “a lot of non-salary benefits.”
CEO Dindyal, in weighing on the effects of the strike on the company, said that it is not a case where the company was losing money as a result of the action, and that the generation capacity has not been significantly affected, especially in Demerara.
He said that the majority of the generation capacity comes from Wartsila, which the company has a contract with, and there are also contract employees at locations such as Leonora; while in Berbice, Dindyal said that much of the generation capacity comes from the Skeldon cogeneration plant.