The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) on Wednesday concluded negotiations for the year that will see workers getting pay rises ranging from 9% to 15%.
The negotiated increases are retroactive to January 1, 2022, according to GAWU.
In a statement issued on Friday, GAWU also announced that the parties agreed to revise the salary scales. “Those workers whose earnings fall below the new scales will be brought up to the new minimum of the scale,” it said, while explaining that this would see such workers receiving in excess of 15% pay increases.
Apart from wages, GAWU and the BBCI have agreed that all allowances would be increased by 9% across the board.
The statement said that through the agreement reached, arrangements regarding the scheduling of staff engaged in the retraction of the bridge on weekends and holidays were clarified and addressed, while the issue of year-end bonus also received attention during the negotiations as well.
“The workers and the Union are pleased that we were able to reach agreement at the bilateral level. The discussions, we believe, were cordial, respectful and frank and assisted in reaching a speedy conclusion. For their part, the workers are pleased with the increases secured by the Union and at this time, the Company is addressing the retroactive payments,” the statement added.
