GPSU proposes $37,757 minimum wage for 2003
Multi-year talks underway
Stabroek News
June 16, 2003
The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) wants a minimum wage for its workers of $37,757 for 2003, a 79% increase on the current minimum wage of $21,047.
It has also submitted proposals for minimum wages for the years 2004 and 2005 of $45,308 and $56,635 amounting to a 25% and 30% increase respectively for each year.
The union proposed the increases for the three years despite its earlier objections to what it said was an illegitimate and arbitrary imposition of increases for 2001 and 2002 by the government.
Talks between the GPSU and the Public Service Ministry (PSM) began last week following the submission of the union’s proposals.
GPSU President, Patrick Yarde confirmed that the union had completed and submitted its wage proposals to the government and had commenced discussions.
According to Yarde, the sides had agreed at their first meeting to meet at least twice weekly to ensure a timely resolution.
The current minimum wage now stands at $21,047 after the government imposed a five per cent across-the-board increase for public sector workers in December 2002 following the breakdown in talks between the two sides.
The proposed increases by the GPSU, which cover scales 1 to 14, see the union also asking for the top scale to reach $302,635 for 2003.
The union has also proposed an increase from $59,904 to $99,600 for those categorised in bands 2-3 of the professional managerial and technical category.
For those at the top of the scale in this category it is proposed that they receive a $619,008 minimum rising to a maximum of $838,560 for 2003.
In the following years this category, according to the GPSU proposals, should benefit from a 25% increase for 2004 rising by 30% in 2005.
As part of the proposal, the union has also put forward increases for travel allowances for the three-year period along with other allowances including lodging, meals, out-of-pocket expenses, housing and uniform.
The union’s proposals are set out in actual figure increases as opposed to percentage hikes. (Oscar P. Clarke)
