PRESIDENT of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Patrick Yarde, is calling for ‘serious’ dialogue with the government to iron out the challenges faced by public servants and foster better working conditions.
Speaking at the opening of the 22nd Biennial Conference of the GPSU last Wednesday, Yarde underscored the difficulties faced by public servants and advocated for “an early return to formal, periodic dialogue between the union and government.”
The president posited, “This dialogue must be serious, it must be sustained, it must be agenda-driven and it must be underpinned by an environment of goodwill, robust enough to withstand the challenges of industrial disputes, even work stoppages. Above everything else, it must be decision-oriented.”
He mentioned the union’s proposals to the Finance Ministry for the 2018 National Budget, where recommendations were advanced that seek to impact the long-term quality of the lives of the workers. According to him, it was no different from the proposals fashioned for the 2015 – 2017 budgets.

“We put forward meaningful and practical recommendations not only for the creation of a qualitatively better Public Service but also for the creation of a public servant whose circumstances as well as his or her tools and his or her environment – better positions him or her to serve this nation,” he contended.
He stressed that while the union’s recommendations have been largely unattended to over the years, the deliberations between the government and union were taken seriously and the union now expects that the administration would do the same.
‘LIVING WAGE’
Moreover, Yarde highlighted some issues the union and public servants are facing that require immediate action. He stressed the need for payments of the ‘living wage’ and the payments for increments and debunching.

Through negotiations conducted between June and August, 2016, however, the GPSU initially proposed a 40 per cent across-the-board increase for public servants, but this was subsequently adjusted to 25 per cent. The union had also demanded that allowances be included in the negotiations.
The Government responded by proposing that persons earning less than $100,000 be paid a 10 per cent increase while persons earning above $1 million would only get a one per cent increase.

Furthermore, Yarde raised the contention that “ridiculously low” allowances for public servants have in many cases remained unchanged for over two decades and require urgent attention. He recounted an engagement with Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, and said, “The ridiculously low allowances paid to public servants would be addressed urgently, Jordan had said.  To date this has not happened; that commitment has not been honoured.”

“We are most disappointed with the apparent lack of interest that has so far been displayed by a Government functionary recently towards our recommendations,” Yarde declared.