…says $25,000 bonus is ‘meagre’

THE Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has expressed concern over the state of negotiations between the union and the Government and called on the APNU+AFC administration to swiftly return to the negotiating table to continue negotiations on wages, salaries and allowances. GPSU Vice-President, Mortimer Livan, told reporters at a press conference at the union’s headquarters, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive and Regent Street, Georgetown, on Wednesday, that his union’s Executive Council will meet next week to decide the way forward.
“We will be having our executive council meeting soon and we will make a determination then,” he said, noting that he believes the negotiations are being stalled by the Ministries of Finance and State. Livan said the union is in receipt of a correspondence from President David Granger dated December 5, 2016, which indicates that negotiations are to continue. Both ministers of Finance and State were copied on that correspondence.
“If we can’t agree let’s follow the process. We have conciliation; we have arbitration and let the arbitrators decide. If they say they can’t reach it, we’ll accept. The arbitrators’ decision is final, but don’t just arbitrarily say we can’t do it and that’s it,” the GPSU Vice-President told reporters.
Given the president’s assurance to the union that negotiations were incomplete, the GPSU said it refrained from moving towards conciliation and arbitration.
In September, the GPSU at its meeting of the General Council rejected the government’s officer of 10 per cent wages and salaries increase for the lowest tier of public servants. By virtue of a resolution, the union said the government’s 10 per cent to 1 per cent differentiated salary increase was unacceptable.
President Granger in response to the union’s objection said his government would go ahead and pay the increases, while committing to continuing talks with the union.
Christmas bonus
Meanwhile, addressing the $25,000 one-off, tax-free pay-out announced by the Minister of Finance last week, Livan said “the meagre Christmas Freck” will not sidetrack the union.
Describing the announcement as “diversionary tactics,” Livan said the announcement that public servants earning less than $500,000 monthly are to be paid the one-off bonus comes against the backdrop of ongoing uncertainty over the status of the incomplete and outstanding wages and salaries negotiations between the GPSU and the Government.
“Frankly, the union finds the meagre ‘Christmas freck’ gesture – not least the Finance Minister’s quixotic and decidedly indelicate remark that the paltry sum will help “ease the journey to the good life” — to be both trite and insensitive.”
Livan finds it ironic that the Government found time to deliberate on the tax- free bonus, but not return to negotiations. He described the move by government as “arbitrary,” noting that it reflects a lack of regard for public servants.
“More than that, the arbitrariness of the decision raises, not for the first time, questions about the veracity of the political administration’s stated commitment to respect collective bargaining. We have little doubt that the expectation behind this gesture is that – particularly at this time of the year – the poorly compensated public servants, will feel some misplaced sense of gratitude for the decidedly modest ‘small piece’ that has been tacked on to their salaries.”
But though the union is against the action taken by the government on the tax-free bonus, it is advising its workers to “take it.”
The union called on the Finance Minister to say in detail how the “Christmas freck” will ease the journey towards the ‘promised land.’ The GPSU has maintained that it is bargaining with the government for a “livable wage” for public servants and according to Livan, the union is of the opinion that $130,000 ought to be the minimum wage by 2019.