Compulsory arbitration will be imposed to resolve the dispute between the Mayor and City Council and the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), a press release from the Ministry of Labour said yesterday.
The release said Minster of Labour Manzoor Nadir, having noted that both parties have been at loggerheads over the increase in wages and salaries for 2007 and 2008 decided to intervene in the matter as was done before. Although both parties had decided to go to arbitration over the issue they could not agree on the members of the arbitration panel.
The release said that in the interest of the workers the ministry will move expeditiously to establish the arbitration panel.
When contacted for a comment yesterday Mayor Hamilton Green said that although he would have preferred a broader panel to deal with the more complex issues behind the wages and salaries increases, he had no difficulties with the minister’s decision. Meanwhile General Secretary of the GLU Carvil Duncan told Stabroek News, “it is a good thing that the minister has finally intervened, something which should have happened earlier.
Duncan said that employees are likely to feel a little relief, though not much, that something is being done in their interest, rather than the deadlock which the council and the union was stuck at.
Duncan also said that the members of the arbitration panel should have no difficulty in providing redress since certain parts of the workforce are already receiving 10% increase for 2008 and as such the other part should receive this also.
He said it should only remain for them to decide on 2007 increases.
Duncan opined that the issues for discussion should not take more than two or three sessions and as such a decision should be made before the end of this month.
