GPSU claims credit for 26.6% pay hike
by Linda Rutherford
THE Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) is claiming credit for the 26.6 per cent pay hike announced in this year's budget. Accusing the administration of trying to take credit for the increase, the union Tuesday said "this has nothing to do with the generosity of the government but has been won by tenacious struggle of the public service employees". It said the higher wages also stemmed from "strong advocacy" before the arbitration tribunal last year which awarded public servants 31.06 and 26.6 per cent increases for 1999 and 2000. Minister with responsibility for Finance, Mr Saisnarine Kowlessar presented the $62.2Bln national budget Monday to the National Assembly. The 26.6 per cent raise, effective from January 1, 2000, will take the minimum wage to $19,000 from $15,000 a month and is for all public servants, teachers, members of the Disciplined Services, pensioners and recipients of social assistance. Pensioners will now receive 50 per cent of the new minimum wage. The GPSU said that while the government was still adamant on allowances and the 31 per cent payout to public service employees in the Fire and Prison services, it was "happy to note that teachers and members of the Disciplined Services would also benefit from the 26.6 per cent won by the public service struggle". The union said it was "gratified that the government has taken on board its recommendations in this regard". But it claimed that the government "failed or refused to accommodate any of the (budget) recommendations of the labour movement made to it over the last couple of years". This was disturbing because the labour movement is invited year after year to consult with the Ministry of Finance on the country's annual budgetary allocations, the GPSU said. Calling pre-budget consultations with labour a charade, the union said the concerns of the private sector and business community are, however, taken on in each year's budget. But union executive, Mr Randolph Kirton, said he had not heard comment about the budget from the business community because of an "obvious" reason. "...because while the government appears to be paying lip service to the fact of the private sector being the engine of growth, we have not seen any indication (of this) in this budget", he argued. The budget speech had a chance reference to the opening up of new vistas in the country, creating thousands of jobs for youths and involving the private sector in the infusion of massive investment, he told reporters. Like his colleagues who felt the budget does not address core issues facing the nation, Kirton said "there was nothing on employment (nor) investment (and) no indication to show this private sector will be the engine of growth (and) nothing for manufacturing". The GPSU contended that Budget 2000 "has the appearance of an electioneering budget with something in store - whether it is water, house lots, clinics and schools - for every village and township from Georgetown to Rupununi and Crabwood Creek to Pomeroon River, all of which is to be financed by more foreign borrowing" from international donor agencies such as the European Union and the Inter-American Development Bank. The union believes the country urgently needs "tax reform, reform of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), regional distribution of revenues, efforts to deal with marginalisation, boosting investing, dealing with poverty in a real way and preparing the student population and the workforce to meet the challenges of computer literacy". It claimed all this escaped the framers of the budget.
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