Yarde suggests strike ultimatum
PRESIDENT of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Mr Patrick Yarde is to recommend to the next General Council meeting of the union a 72-strike ultimatum to the Government for alleged "atrocities." Yarde told the Chronicle in an interview following a press conference at the union's headquarters last week that he is prepared to discuss the modernisation of the public service but it must not be linked to the voluntary separation package suggested by the Government. He maintains that the Government has so far not consulted the union on the package which he argued should not be linked to public service reform. "The issue is not voluntary separation. The issue is what is the nature of your public service reform. You want to modernise it, you want it to perform. What is the nature of it?" Yarde argued. "...from the scientific study you'll determine what you have to do. But they're determining what they have to do without doing a study", he said. He said that consultation as agreed to by the Government and the union would start if the administration submits a formal document on the separation package. "It appears that what the Government is trying to do is to equate public service reform with its so called `voluntary termination.' The union will not accept such an equation," Yarde declared. The GPSU has written President Bharrat Jagdeo on the issue and has dispatched letters to top officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), claiming that its IMF Chief of Mission here, Mr Gopaul Yadav is interfering "in the domestic affairs of Guyana." Yarde has argued that while the public service has about 12,000 employees, there are still 6,000 vacancies. And he said productivity of the public service has increased by 250 per cent, according to a report submitted by an arbitration tribunal in August this year. The tribunal awarded a 31.6 per cent increase to public service workers this year and a further 26 per cent for last year. Consultant to the union, Mr Asgar Ally says the pay award to public servants can be sustainable, once the economy is managed well. "The basis of the arbitration was to correct the years of wrong," he noted, stressing that the wages in the sector were depressed. Ally has also called for a formal document on civil service reform and argued that it has to be debated in Parliament. "The issue must be discussed and resolved nationally," he said. Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon wrote the Trades Union Congress (TUC) pointing out that the public service union was consulted on the Government's voluntary separation package for public sector employees. A letter sent to the General Secretary pointed out that the offer of voluntary separation to temporary and unqualified public servants was raised with the GPSU. Luncheon informed the TUC that the Government has been meeting with the GPSU regularly since October. The public service union was also provided with a copy of the administration's intention on the matter and discussions started near the end of last month. Luncheon told a press conference recently that the administration is offering temporary, unqualified employees in the lower bands of the public service, a `voluntary separation' package in the ongoing reform of the sector. It targets those in grades one to five and offers no less than a year's wages at the level of pay at the year 2000. But applicants must agree to resign from the service. (MICHELLE ELPHAGE)
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