Having given the administration one month’s notice rejecting the arbitrary across-the-board nine per cent increase in salary as a final settlement for 2007, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) stands ready for industrial action.
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday at the GPSU headquarters, President Patrick Yarde said that in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Sam Hinds in November, the union had given notice of its intention to take action after the expiration of one month, which was on December 20. Yarde said it was not the union’s intention to disrupt the festive season. However, if it were provoked then it would have no alternative but to take effective action.
“We are a peaceful and law-abiding union and we have given them the notice. Now we can go ahead with whatever course of action we wish to take,” Yarde said.
He added that the union has not yet decided on what form of industrial action it would take. However, he said, whenever the union did decide to go ahead with industrial action it intended to target every sector. The GPSU president said the union’s primary concerns remain critical issues including the implementation of VAT and the current income tax threshold, which is $25,000.
He said the GPSU had written to Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh on the issue and a copy of the letter was also sent to President Bharrat Jagdeo. Yarde said the union has also written to the government demanding that the shortfall in payment below the annual rate of inflation previously executed by the government be corrected. “In effect, we are claiming retroactivity in the form of a minimum of 15% accumulated for the years 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007,” Yarde explained.
He told Stabroek News that in the Mid-Year Review presented in Parliament recently, it was reported that government had allocated $1,847,926,000 for wages and salaries for 2007. This was revised and increased by $458 million, to $2,306,869,073. With this increase, he said, as well as the excess revenue government is garnering, there is enough to pay the entire labour force a 14% increase.
Despite all this, Yarde said, the union has recognised a clear unwillingness on the part of the administration to address the concerns necessary for the development of the public service into a modernized, professional public service that is devoid of political interference.
The GPSU is calling for immediate relief to be granted to workers in the form of raising the income tax threshold to $50,000. In this regard, Yarde said, the GPSU will maintain that its membership is vital in the relationship between the union and the administration. Yarde also stated that the union is concerned about the pattern of behaviour by the government.
The GPSU president also made mention of how disturbing it was to see the government announcing a one month salary as a bonus for the armed forces. “The GPSU has the position that the members of the police force and army merit being paid a salary in excess of four times the amount that they currently receive and that such payment is fully deserving, affordable and sustainable,” Yarde said.
He said the union has also called for Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) employees to be paid two months’ salary as a bonus. Yarde said the union has made this appeal for the past four years to no avail.
He added that he was informed that the GRA staff had not yet received their December month salaries.
Notwithstanding all this, the GPSU president said, there has been an improved relationship between the union and the administration in particular areas such as with Public Service Minister Dr Jennifer Westford.
