Public servants get 5% pay hike
To cost over $1B
By Oscar P. Clarke
Stabroek News
November 21, 2002
The government yesterday announced a five percent pay increase for most public servants, a figure GPSU President Patrick Yarde described as "grossly inadequate".
Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon made the announcement at his weekly press conference yesterday. According to Luncheon, the five percent increase was to workers in the traditional public service and members of the Disciplined Services. Contract workers and other eligible categories will receive increases of four percent. All increases would be paid retroactively from January 2002.
According to Luncheon, the payout, which is to be instituted immediately, was the administration's "ultimate and maximum offer". But Yarde, when contacted for a comment after the briefing, told Stabroek News that the union's position is that the only right and legitimate way to resolve the issue is through arbitration. He said the union would settle for nothing less and would "engage members at the appropriate time to examine this, and other serious issues." Yarde said the increases being offered by the government have not taken into account surges in the cost of social services and foodstuff.
Luncheon told reporters that the increases were intended to be the final payment in the fiscal year 2002.
"It is not anticipated that additional payment will be made in 2002," the Cabinet Secretary maintained.
The cost to government of the increase, which according to Luncheon, is just over $1B, "can be and should be accommodated within the budgeted figures."
Computations of the increase "would or should be concluded in time to provide for the statutory payment by Dec 13 and the retroactive payment before or after this day."
The government during its negotiations with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), which commenced on April 3, had offered a three percent increase but this was rejected by the union.
But Luncheon said that the offer had only reflected its opening position.
The three percent, Luncheon said, was floated in anticipation of the union invoking the arbitration mechanism as a means of resolving the wages and salaries issue for 2002.
"Therefore built in to government's approach was some level of flexibility in terms of the final dispensation," Luncheon added.
The union for its part had argued for the minimum wage to be around $33,000 if public servants were to have a decent living wage. The 2001 minimum wage was $20,045.
Further, the union had insisted on allowances being considered in the arbitration, a move which government did not agree with. This and the issue of more than one year's wages being considered by the arbitration panel led to the stalemate.
Luncheon said that Cabinet in making the payout believed that further deliberations would be too time consuming to allow for a successful resolution of the dispute in 2002.
Thus in keeping with the spirit of meeting its employees' expectations, the administration decided to make a payout before the onset of the festive season, he said.
"Instructions had been passed to the responsible government agencies, ministries and department to ensure that these payments are received in a timely fashion in anticipation of the upcoming holiday."
Cabinet additionally noted that there were ongoing considerations on specific interventions to improve the conditions of service for members of the Guyana Police Force.
In a press release yesterday afternoon, the union described the increase as a unilateral one. It noted that during negotiations and conciliation the government's offer had remained stationary at 3% yet it had now been upped to 5%.
