Justice Prem Persaud,  Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Gobin Ganga,  and former General Secretary of the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU),  Grantley Culbard  have been appointed to serve as members of the Arbitration Tribunal  to settle the ongoing wage dispute between  the Guyana Power and Light  company (GPL)  and  the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE). The move follows a decision by Minister of Labour, Dr  Nanda Gopaul on Monday to invoke  mandatory arbitration proceedings under the Laws of Guyana, ending  the workers’ strike called  by  NAACIE  after it  had stretched into its fourth day yesterday.

The two bodies had met with   labour officials on Friday last but steadfastly maintained their previous positions. NAACIE had initially demanded a 25 per cent increase while the  GPL  insisted that it could not even  afford to pay the five per cent it had offered.

On Wednesday last, the unionised workers downed tools in protest at   the proposal by GPL, calling it a meagre 1 per cent, and the union subsequently called for at least an eight per cent increase to be paid.

NAACIE had been arguing that the offer by the GPL flies in the face of a 2001 Collective Bargaining Agreement over wages and salaries, but the power company’s   management insisted that the agreement had expired several years ago.

Chief Executive Officer of GPL,  Bharrat Dindyal, this past week  met with members of the media and suggested that the time had come for a new agreement to be negotiated.    

Dindyal in reference to NAACIE, told media operatives that the union continuously refers to the 2001  agreement but this had expired in 2003.
He said that its expiration was with the proviso that wages negotiations would continue from 2004.
The power company’s CEO told media operatives that while  GPL  would have respected many elements of the  agreement  in the years subsequent to its expiration, the union had  signed onto several all-inclusive offers made by GPL that are no different from the offer now.