– says GPSU President

PRESIDENT of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Patrick Yarde, has suggested that workers in the public service should benefit from ‘living’ wages, which are commensurate with their workload.

In his advice to the government, Yarde, during a recent interview with the Sunday Chronicle, said that employees of the public service should receive adequate living wages, starting with Guyana’s healthcare workers, who have been instrumental in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government, in its 2020 Emergency Budget, had allocated $150 million for frontline workers, as a means of encouragement in their daily efforts to care for and protect those at risk of the coronavirus.

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, had also said, in September 2020, that he understands that every category of worker wants more, and wants better. And, he assured stakeholders that the government has better to deliver, and that the authorities are committed to ensuring that all categories of workers have a better standard of living, better opportunities, and greater prospects in the future.

Yarde, however, said: “I am very sad with the way public servants are being treated, and you would notice the COVID-19 is escalating. I am saying without reservation that the human resources in healthcare, the frontline workers are being ill-treated, there’s insensitivity to them.”
On the contrary, the government has expended over $2.1 billion on critical items such as medical supplies, COVID-19 testing kits, sanitising materials and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), for frontline workers.

Additionally, while these items will continue to play a crucial role in Guyana’s COVID-19 fight; the newer phase of mitigating COVID-19 involves mass vaccination of the population. For now, the government has prioritised the vaccination of medical frontline workers and persons over 40 years old, among other groups of people. Over 50,000 persons have been vaccinated so far.

And, while Yarde commended the government for its vaccination programme, he said that the needs of healthcare workers have increased.
It is for this reason that he believes that the government should work towards ensuring that public servants across all sector are “better paid.”
“It’s a shame when you get acquainted with the salaries of people in the public service. Imagine an assistant accountant working for less than $100,000 or a registered nurse working for less than $100,000; but these things, there seems to be no urgency in bringing economic relief to these very valuable and hardworking Guyanese people who are putting their lives at risk,” Yarde said.

Economic relief has, however, been provided to healthcare workers, as it was reported that they benefited from a bonus which is equivalent to two weeks’ pay, the $25,000 COVID-19 household grant, among other things. Other workers in the public service were also exposed to similar benefits.
In speaking further, Yarde advised healthcare workers to remain professional and committed to their jobs.
“We have been encouraging them to go the extra mile, but in doing that we want them to ensure that they do not put their lives at risk, or their families; we want them to ensure that they protect themselves, and they must know that this union stands with them,” Yarde said.

The GPSU President said that the union is committed to engaging the government to ensure that all Guyanese in the public sector have access to better benefits.