Greater collaboration needed between labour and government
-15th GPSU conference hears
By Oscar P. Clarke
Stabroek News
June 27, 2003
The 15th Biennial Delegates Conference of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) was opened on Wednesday evening at the National Cultural Centre amid calls for greater collaboration between the government and labour.
These calls were highlighted in the presentations of Public Service Minister, Dr Jennifer Westford and Executive Vice President of Service Employees International Union, Norma Amsterdam.
Westford, a former executive member of the union, in declaring the conference officially opened, said that it was “timely and opportune” for management and labour to work for the betterment of the workers.
Amid cries of “lies” from some persons in the auditorium, she said the government was equally committed to the achievement of social and economic justice for all workers.
Globalisation was leading to changes in the world economy bringing about gains in technology and allowing access to information using new and improved methods.
She said it was in this vein that it was imperative for management and labour to work towards minimising conflict while promoting flexibility to achieve the desired objectives.
She urged the union to dedicate some time during its conference deliberations to discuss the global shifts which were impacting on the labour movement in particular.
She further reiterated the need for the development of an appropriate climate for dialogue between the parties in the realisation that conflict would achieve no significant benefit.
Amsterdam, a health care employee and union leader in New York, alluded to the need for the union to develop an amenable working relation with employers as a means of achieving maximum benefits to its members.
She acknowledged the need for such bodies having to struggle to secure progress which she equated with having to plough the ground before cultivating crops.
It would be a great mistake for any class of labour to think that they could achieve the just rewards without agitation, she said, while charging them to go out and educate, organise and mobilise members.
Amsterdam charged the workers to stand together as the stronger the union was the more power it had to be a meaningful force.
According to Amsterdam, she hoped to use her attendance at the conference to share some of her experiences and strategies to aid in their achievement of change.
GPSU President, Patrick Yarde alluded to the efforts at public sector modernisation and the improvement of standards of service to customers which he said was fully backed by the union.
Yarde also examined the perception of the administration that the union was solely interested in attaining better wages and salaries for workers which he said was far from the truth.
He said this perception was giving rise to the government being seemingly bent on causing the union’s destruction.
One sign of this was the union being sidelined in the drafting of the new public sector management scheme which they were only now being included in. But he said the union’s co-operation should not be interpreted as a willingness to be a rubber stamp.
He further suggested that justice along with better wages and salaries was key to seeing improvements in performances, a factor which government does not seem to have grasped.
He further reiterated the need for co-operation between the union and government while lamenting the fact that it was the same administration that was trying to dismantle the body by stifling its cash flow through its refusal to deduct dues and fees.
He noted that the restriction of the check off system was riddled with disputes and was currently before the courts with the GPSU estimating its losses at some $300M.
The GPSU president also alluded to the fact that the auditor general in a preliminary report had found favour with the union’s accounts for 2002, one of the issues he said which the administration was using to sideline it.
Turning to public servants, Yarde said that they could not make demands if they were not willing to respond positively to the needs of the public. He said the union had been receiving reports, some seemingly credible, of complaints about their conduct while urging them to provide a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.
Yarde while lauding the efforts of Minister Westford whom he said had created a new atmosphere between the parties, urged closer collaboration.
Earlier General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, Lincoln Lewis in a fiery presentation blamed the culture of the government on the current state of labour relations and the deprivation of workers.
He said that the movement seemed to be a gravy train for some who merely wanted to hide under its coat to gain political patronage.
The conference being held under the theme “Continuous in our Service and Defence of Public Employees” with a sub theme of “In pursuit of social and economic justice for public workers,” is holding its sessions at the union’s Thomas Lands Sports Complex.
During the opening, a book tracing the history of trade unionism locally, specifically aimed at students and aspiring union leaders was, launched. The book was compiled following research by veteran unionist, Leslie Melville and examines the period from 1905 to 2000.
The ceremony was attended by leader of the opposition Robert Corbin, parliamentarians and other guests and workers.
