GOVERNMENT and the union representing the country’s public servants have concluded day one of the long-awaited talks to flesh out wages, salaries, and allowances for state employees. An invitation to the union,the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), by the Ministry of the Presidency’s chief official, Minister Joseph Harmon, marked the beginning of the first such engagement between the David Granger administration and that union. From this first round, both the union and government, through their representatives, have agreed to establish a committee dealing specifically with allowances for public servants.
Meanwhile, the negotiating teams also settled on further engagements on public servants’ remuneration scheduled to continue on June 27. GPSU President Patrick Yarde expressed concern to reporters on Tuesday that the invitation by Minister Harmon did not mention “allowances” for public servants which have not been forthcoming for some 20 years.

Yarde said even though his union had accepted the invitation, the body responded in writing to the minister requesting clarification on whether “allowances” would form part of the negotiations. For his part, State Minister Joseph Harmon told reporters at a post-cabinet press briefing yesterday that a response was made to the GPSU regarding “allowances,” but this was done after Yarde’s Tuesday meeting with reporters.
“We prefer a sequential process engaged in these negotiations,” Harmon told the press corps, adding that allowances should not be lumped with wages and salaries, but should be taken in parts in a step-by-step process.
The negotiating teams yesterday agreed to have a review, done by the GPSU, of government’s proposal for a “differentiated approach” to increases of wages and salaries as opposed to the imposed five percent increases, which had become the norm under the former Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar administrations.
Harmon was upbeat during his press conference about the prospects of the discussions. “We feel that the atmosphere in which these negotiations take place is a friendly atmosphere, not one of antagonism between two sides. Both sides will negotiate and negotiate hard,” Harmon said. Government had set up a Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service, and had said the report would be used to guide the development of the public sector, including wages, salaries and allowances.
All wage negotiations with the union representing the country’s public servants were put on hold until the report was presented to the President. President Granger received the report last May. At his union’s press conference, Yarde had advocated the setting up of the Public Service Appellate Tribunal, which is to be appointed by the President. That tribunal has not been summoned since the first term of the Bharrat Jagdeo administration (2001-2006).
There was no mention from yesterday’s negotiations of the tribunal coming up in discussions, and efforts to contact GPSU’s President were unsuccessful. Article 215A of the Guyana Constitution speaks to the establishment of a Public Service Appellate Tribunal.
The tribunal is empowered by the country’s constitution to overrule any decision made by the Public Service Commission (PSC) except those involving transfers. The power of the tribunal was emphasised since that body could nullify positions taken by the PSC, which has been accused of being defunct by politically motivated persons serving on the body.