THE Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has expressed concern over what it deemed as the stalled negotiations with government regarding wages and salaries for public servants. The GPSU had rejected increases offered by the government in August following weeks of negotiations and deemed the payout made last month as an interim measure. “As a consequence, the union called for the speedy return to the negotiating table to address with alacrity the remaining issues on the agenda, including allowances, debunching, increments and other conditions of service for Public Servants”, the union stated on Wednesday.
According to the union, it believes that public servants would expect that the appropriate mechanism for ensuring continuity in the wages and salaries negotiations will be effected without haste. In addition, it noted that public servants would also expect an early return to the negotiating table in order to thrash out outstanding matters.
The GPSU accused the government of treating the issues on the table without urgency or importance, noting that it had expected that at this point the negotiations would have realised much more than an “unreasonable and unacceptable” wages and salaries offer. In addition, while lamenting the situation, the union said that the two parties would have at minimum, arrived at a point where the talks would have resulted in some measure of seasonal satisfaction.
“At this juncture, the GPSU wishes to make the point that it remains both disappointed and concerned over the fact that the Government of Guyana negotiators do not appear to attach the deserving level of urgency to treating with the aforementioned issues in a fair and reasonable manner”, the body reiterated.
It said that the posture of the government “ignores the continuing anguish and frustration of Public Servants and sends a message that might even raise questions about the extent to which any serious value is placed on the contribution that Public Servants make.”
Realistically, the union said that it does not anticipate a qualitatively enhanced Public Service in circumstances where little corresponding attention is being paid to adequately incentivising public servants to rise to challenges that are being set them. The GPSU called on the government to remove the atmosphere of uncertainty that currently attends the negotiations. The union called for an immediate and clear address by the government of its position on the agreed mechanism for addressing the deadlocked negotiations on wages and salaries.
In addition, the union proposed a timeline which does not extend past November “for the resumption of determined and diligent negotiations on the remaining agenda items in the negotiating process.”
In August this year, the government and the GPSU concluded a two-month period of negotiations on salary and wage increases.
According to a statement from Government, the negotiations were conducted in the spirit of cordiality and mutual respect, and consistent with the obligations of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Guyana Public Service Union and the Public Service Ministry for the Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes. The GPSU had initially proposed a 40% across-the-board increase for public servants, however, this was subsequently adjusted to 25%. The GPSU also requested that allowances be included in the negotiations.
In the end, the Government explained that it had proposed a differentiated approach to increases that sought to provide the greatest relief to those within the lower Salary Bands of the Public Service Wages and Salaries Structure. The final offer made and later paid out by the government was a 10% increase for persons earning below $99,000 per month, a 6% increase for persons earning $100,000 – $299,000 per month, 5% for those earning $300,000 – $499,000, and 4% for persons earning $500,000 – $799,000. In addition, it proposed a 2% increase for those earning $800,000 – $999,000 and a 1% increase for public servants earning above $1,000,000 per month.