The main opposition PNCR has called for the urgent establishment of an industrial court, saying that with yet another imposition of an increase in wages for public servants the unions representing workers have no avenue to seek redress.
“The time is right for the country to have a reliable industrial court where the unions could go and settle their own matters and disputes and when there are impositions, they and government could have the issue dealt with by a specialized court of independent judges,” party Vice Chairman Basil Williams told the media at a press conference yesterday.
His comment follows those of party MP Mervin Williams who read a prepared statement which addressed this and other issues.
He said government continued to impose its will on the Guyanese working people and to undermine any trade union that it could not control. “Is it not arrogance for a government which is raking in billions of dollars on the backs of the Guyanese workers through VAT to declare that even though the official rate of inflation stands at above 13%, it can only arbitrarily offer public servants and other government workers a 9% across-the-board increase for 2007?” he questioned.
He said the party believes that the increase should be seen as an interim payout and called on government to restore the bargaining mechanism in accordance with the relevant International Labour Organisation convention.
The Office of the President (OP) on Monday arbitrarily announced the across-the-board pay hike for public service workers, retroactive to January 1 this year even as a meeting between it and the union was scheduled for Wednesday.
OP in a media release said the formalities would be concluded to allow for the deadline of a payout no later than December 13.
This has been the outcome over the last few years as the government and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) have repeatedly failed to reach agreement.
While the nine per cent is up one per cent on the government’s original offer, it is still far from the 14 per cent the GPSU had demanded.
This newspaper understands that the announcement had come as a surprise to the union but no formal statement has been made in this regard as yet.
Last week, the GPSU stated at a press conference that it wanted a 14% pay increase for this year and for the wage deficit from 2002-6 to be taken care of. At that time, the union had said it was concerned with the lack of progress in negotiations but was looking forward to a meeting with the government this week.
However, according to sources, the government did not commit to this meeting in writing.
The union this time was very low-key even as it pressed for its ‘deserved’ increase for workers and Yarde had told the media that the union was giving the government a fair opportunity to respond to its requests. He explained that since the perception was that the union was confrontational, this year it had decided to avoid certain assertions since there was no intention to cause prejudice but rather to be rational in its approach.
The OP statement said the office had been kept informed by the bargaining agents engaged in the pay hike negotiations and expressed regret that after months of negotiations there continued, “to be difficulties in arriving at a mutually acceptable solution. The government is indeed pleased over the very enlightened manner in which these talks were conducted. We believe that with the discussions that transpired during the negotiations process, the way has been paved for improved working relations between the government and the union,” the statement had said.
However, the government said it had not lost sight of the fact that workers expected to receive wage and salary increases for this year in a timely manner and as such decided to act.
“The decision clearly reflected the slim likelihood of an agreement being reached in time to effect payment before the end of the year,” the statement said.
