The Guyana Postal and Telecommunication Workers’ Union (GPTWU) has made the decision to meet with the Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes, concerning the unresolved matter between the union and the government of Guyana, before taking the matter to court.

The union is hoping that when it meets with Hughes, the matter of the government’s indebtedness to the pensioners of the Guyana Telecommunications Corporation (GTC)/ Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) Pensioners’ Association, can finally come to a conclusion, favorable to the GPTWU.

The meeting with the Minister has not yet been confirmed by Hughes, but the union is in high expectations.
During an interview with this newspaper, GPTWU President, Harold Shepherd, stated, “our intention is to take this matter to the court if good sense does not prevail, but we are still hoping that since the information has been published, both by the print and electronic media, that someone within the government of Guyana will try the union to further discuss the issue.”

Shepherd noted that the union has not received any response from the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, after the union’s attorney Nigel Hughes dispatched a letter, over a month ago, to the Ministry of Finance requesting that the matter be resolved.

GPTWU on June 18, 2019, announced at a press conference, that it will be taking legal action against the government if a response was not received in seven days. However, on July 30, 2019, Shepherd indicated that the matter was still not one for the court, since the union wished to give the government more time.

“We really thought that giving them some additional time would have facilitated the process, whereby, if not the Minister of Finance, another official who has an interest in the issue could get involved, at least for good sense to prevail,” he said

Following the press conference on June 18, there was an approval of a resolution by members of the GTC/GTT Pensioners’ Association. Prior to approval of the resolution, a petition was signed by 20 members of the association.

The resolution stated that retired employees of the GTC/ GTT Pensioners’ Association have authorised the GPTWU to explore all means necessary in an effort to bring closure to the payment of pensions owed to them; this would be in keeping with the agreement

pertaining to GTC’s sale to ATN and the formation of GTT, a new entity. The agreement stated that the service of all GTC employees who chose to continue with the ATN majority-owned GTT was continuous and they (the employees) would receive their pensions from the government, based on their final salaries at retirement.