Below is a message from Patrick Yarde, President of the GPSU
ON the occasion of the 97th Anniversary of the Guyana Public Service Union, the organisation is most proud and committed to the theme – “Continuing the Journey for Social Justice – in Unity we can achieve.”

Rejuvenating and re-energizing our organisation for the continuation of this mission, necessitates introspection, honesty, sincerity, genuine togetherness – unity in purpose, and the highest quality of being dedicated to overcoming the shortcomings experienced in the past. While we focus diligently on building on our achievements, maintaining relevance and responding precisely, efficiently and effectively in a dynamic work environment, we must do so with focus on overcoming the hurdles ahead.

These are unprecedented times; we are faced with an obvious unstable political situation and must ensure that there is absolutely no implication for our members. We are also confronting a deadly coronavirus global pandemic and its escalation at our borders, in particular, with Brazil. We must take all possible measures to protect our members and the health and wellbeing of the citizenry. We must ensure that the side effects of these undesirables do not compromise our targeted goals.

Reflecting on the past year, we had expected to achieve much more but, to our disappointment, many agreements were broken, not recognised or frustrated. The establishment of the High Level Committee to review wages, salaries and allowances did not happen; what was done was not comprehensive nor adequate. There were increases in wages and salaries which were imposed without consultation or negotiation. The Union signed a Recognition Agreement with the MMA/ADA in August 2019. We were also able to formally finalize and sign the Recognition Agreement to represent the staff of the Revenue Authority. However, this was a very arduous and painstaking process which took over two decades to complete. We entered into an agreement with the Government for the Restoration of the Sports Complex in February 2019; however, to date, no work has commenced.

We, therefore, must prepare and equip ourselves to do whatever must be done in our interest, that of our families and the future of our country wherever possible. We must correct the arbitrary changes in hard-won agreements like the doubling and tripling of meal allowances for nurses and we must pursue the enforcement of collective agreements. We must continue the struggles for a living wage and adequate salaries and allowances, some of which remain unchanged for over twenty-five years, thus resulting in public servants having to subsidize their income from poorly-paid salaries. Our Agency Shop Agreement and other entitlements were removed by a ‘wicked and lawless’ government. But, we cannot overlook the unfulfilled promises made to restore our Agency Shop Agreement and other entitlements, which shamelessly allowed free riders to benefit equally from the hard-earned efforts of our members. We must pursue the enforcement of all collective agreements.

We must restore our Sports Complex facilities to its former glory to provide necessary healthy recreation exposure for our members, their families and acquaintances, by all means necessary, including seeking the fulfillment of the agreements entered into with the current government. We must vigorously demand, as a major stakeholder, that there is respect for inclusiveness. We must never give way to increasing political attempts to undermine and replace the leadership of our union with misfits to compromise the union’s effectiveness and to keep our members vulnerable.

It is for these reasons and in the prevailing environment that we consider it absolutely necessary to commence our new year of existence with prayers. The Union caters for members of all religions who aim to commit their faith and purpose to our cause for justice, protection of the innocent and enjoyment of peace, fulfilment and comfort. In so doing, we shall begin by giving thanks to God Almighty as we always do, except on this occasion we would like to celebrate with our members all throughout our beloved country in thanksgiving services. We do believe that God’s richest blessings and support shall be motivating and inspiring to our success.

We have to be clear and of one purpose, jointly seeking our goals: Our pursuit is eliminating racism; Our pursuit is eliminating discrimination; Our pursuit is eliminating inequality; Our pursuit is good governance; Our pursuit is justice and fair play; Our pursuit is enlightened conflict resolution and Our pursuit is broad-based national harmony and acceptance. We must be prepared to face all challenges in unity and with absolute resolve for social justice.

It is therefore essential that we reinforce our foundation ensuring that it is unmovable in the future. We must advance our mission starting with the identification of all that hinders progress and the accomplishment of our noble goals, and remove all evils that are being promoted to deter us from our achievements. We must at the same time enlighten those who are not conscious of the virtues and values of our purpose and build confidence in those who are feeling insecure and uncertain of their decency, high moral standards, goodness and righteousness.

Our fight is to restore and enhance the strength of our organisation and promote the wellbeing and welfare of our members and, by so doing, provide a basis for the development of our communities and our nation. This would require the involvement of every member – all of our union branches must function efficiently; all of our members’ grievances must be represented; we must expand our membership base; we must ensure that our membership education programme is refined, relevant and accessible. We must enhance communication with the total membership including an efficient and effective feedback mechanism. We must ensure that all work environments are safe, conducive and worker friendly. We must ensure that they are treated fairly on the job and there is career training, upward mobility and succession planning. We must motivate all members to be professional, efficient and effective in discharging their duties.

We must be consistent in our approach and accommodative of all who share our values. We must strive for national harmony and vanquish all who seek to divide and spread evil. We have to accelerate our campaign and be careful of who we embrace. Most of all, we must be certain that our errors in judgement are not repeated. We have paid a great price for not safeguarding ourselves from unprincipled conduct and indecency. We must shield ourselves from untrustworthy relationships.

As we proceed, we must maintain vigorously our independence as an organisation as we continue to enjoy our members’ confidence in our ability to protect them from all unwarranted attacks. As I have encouraged repeatedly over the years in messages and speeches, let us with open minds and clear objectivity consistent with this year’s Anniversary theme, pledge to fulfil our commitment to achieving the stated goals.
Happy 97th Anniversary to all members.