–so they took the pittance and zipped their mouths

Dear Editor,
AS would be expected, the political haters and the political grudgers have commenced their usual anti-national putridity via Facebook, in the aftermath of President Granger’s delightful announcement of the best wages and salaries increases ever, for public servants.

In fact, there is a statement about workers deserving ‘living wages’ mentioned, which is laughable since it is contradictory for all that the PPP/C regime would have done in denying public servants a more than decent living being emitted from either the lost PPP/C political adherents, or their leaders. Whichever it is, it reflects an absence of honesty, and a downright descent into a cesspool of ignorance which continues to have no relevance in the new Guyana that has been emerging since after May, 2015.

These sadly, misguided and mischievous waste-of-time social media users must be reminded that their party had over two decades to treat public servants with the respect and dignity which this key category of national workers should have had. Instead, we are all aware as to the policy, deliberate, of their then government which applied the politically backward ethnic strategy of ensuring a mostly African public service be kept at starvation wages levels.

The Christmas sop of the annual five per cent was designedly insulting for its contemptuous presumption of keeping Public Service workers quiet. It was seen as a method of perpetuating poverty, ensuring that there was never to be adequate remuneration for closing the socio-economic gap which exists among some sections of the Guyanese people, in this instance, the vital segment of the public service that is tasked with delivering vital public services to all Guyanese.

An example of this vindictive strategy was the all-out assault on the trade unions, rendering them toothless by contracting State workers directly to the State, and refusing to engage these worker representative bodies in any meaningful discussion towards the process of collective bargaining.

Editor, this was clearly a grand design of conspiratorial proportions against the workers of this nation; all the workers, inclusive of even PPP/C supporters, many of whom are within the public service. What must be further underlined is that there were more than enough financial resources within the coffers of the PPP/C regime to give public servants adequate wages and salaries. Thus, for years, this deserving section of the nation’s workers were made to eke out a miserable existence on hand-to-mouth wages.

It is a known fact, very, very practical, that in high-priced societies such as Guyana, no amount of wages are really sufficient to cope; but one must accord the President Granger coalition administration every bit of commendation for lifting the national minimum wages to a 77 per cent in just four years, from $39,000 to the just announced line of $70,000, especially given the background of the GuySuCo collapse and ensuing crises, compliments of the PPP/C criminal mismanagement, in addition to the numerous attempts at undermining the national development programme of the government.

GuySuCo saddled the coalition government with a total bill of a reported $42B for rescue, in the form of subsidy and termination of employment payments. One must therefore agree with Finance Minister Winston Jordan when he echoed the fact that had such a sum been available to the government, workers’ emoluments would have been far better than it is. Of course, he is correct in his assessment. Editor, being unconscionable should be deemed a national offence, in a country where it has assumed epidemic proportions, among PPP/C supporters.

One is certain that in the coming 2020 BUDGET, and with the imminent flow of oil and gas, that the minimum wage will be taken to a new plateau, considered desirable, which these suddenly interested-in-the-welfare-of-public servants fans never demanded of their PPP/C when it held the reins of governance. They were afraid to speak out, so they took the pittance and zipped their mouths.

Regards,
Carla Mendonca