…after M&CC, union reach agreement

THE GEORGETOWN Mayor and City Council will commence payment of retroactive monies owed to its workers from September, having reached an agreement with the Guyana Local Government Officers Union (GLGOU).

The agreement comes just a day after City Hall workers took to the streets in protest to voice their frustration. On Tuesday, the Town Clerk Royston King and a team of city officials, met with the leader of the Guyana Local Government Officers Union Carvil Duncan, and it was during that meeting that several issues were discussed, including the non-payment of retroactive monies for 2016 and 2017. The union and the council have agreed to commence payment of retroactive monies owed to employees from the month of September. Further, the most vulnerable staff will be paid first.

City Hall employees have been crying out and protesting against the actions of the Mayor& City Council (M&CC). These employees, numbering approximately 200, are all part of the Guyana Labour Union (GLU). They have over the years, been demanding their retroactive salaries owed them for the years 2015 to 2017.

Town Clerk Royston King in response said, that he is not satisfied with the services provided by some employees. He said that he has observed that some employees, when assigned tasks, leave the job incomplete, as such, contractors have to be called in to complete their unfinished tasks.

He noted that this has affected the Council’s coffers tremendously. He highlighted also, the fact that the supervisors are to be blamed, and with that, systems have been put in place to deal with the errant supervisors.

King said that over a three-year period employees’ salaries were increased by 18 per cent, with the projection that new revenue earning streams would have been initiated. This, he says, has placed a burden on the limited financial resources and resulted in a shortfall in the payment of other statutory deductions, including NIS and PA.Y.E. However, they have agreed to initiate the payment.