This latest GPSU game
THE Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) seems to be pursuing a course of action that could only undermine its own credibility and further weaken its stature among unions of its type in the rest of the Caribbean region. The point at issue, this time around, is the call by the GPSU for a review of the terms of reference of the Commission of Inquiry, established under the chairmanship of Justice Carl Singh by President Janet Jagan, to probe a series of incidents that occurred during the recent prolonged strike by public sector workers. The creation of the Commission of Inquiry into a number of very ugly and distressing incidents, some involving clashes between the Police and striking workers and protesters, was in accordance with the agreement reached between the government and the unions for ending the pay hike strike. The three-member Arbitration Tribunal that was agreed upon to deal with the substantive pay hike issue should begin work shortly with the availability of the mutually acceptable chairman, Dr. Aubrey Armstrong, a Barbados-based Guyanese Management Consultant. Most surprisingly, with the appointment of the Justice Carl Singh Commission of Inquiry the GPSU has decided to offer as an excuse for not giving evidence on any or all of the incidents involved, its disagreement with the Commission's terms of reference. Unless it could have a review of those terms of reference, it said it will boycott the Commission. In this latest tantrum of the GPSU, the question is: What game is it really up to now? Surely the leaders of this union must know that it is in the interest of its own members, and the country in general, in the interest of law and order and justice for all, public sector workers and everybody else, that they should cooperate in the work of the Commission that has resulted from the signed accord to end the strike. The GPSU President, Mr. Patrick Yarde, who also happens to be the President of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, in his letter to President Jagan, calling for a review of the Commission's terms of reference, may have come close to contempt for the work of the Commission when he interprets the function of Justice Singh to be that of the "position of a note-taker" in relation to the reported unlawful acts and actions by protesters at the Customs Boat House. The Commission has until Friday, July 30, to carry out the terms of its mandate, subject to such extensions, if any, that may be necessary and which the President would be expected to grant. It is to be hoped that the GPSU will cease throwing up hurdles to co-operation in the national interest and ensure respect for the rights of all citizens by appearing before the Commission and offer whatever evidence of its own that may be helpful to the process. We have noted in its letter to the President that the GPSU has offered for comparison the terms of reference of a Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Governor General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It is relevant to ask whether the issues and circumstances that led to the appointment of the probe commission in that sister state of the Caribbean Community were similar to the Guyana experience. The differences in language in the formulation of the terms of reference may be relevant to the separate experience of both countries. If it is not really ducking its responsibility to lead evidence before the Commission, then the GPSU should not expect, at this stage, for the Commission of Inquiry to cease functioning because it feels that the terms of reference are not what it wants.
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