GPSU dissatisfied with movement on terms of resumption issues
by Courtney Jones
Eleven days after full resumption of work following the 55-day public service strike, a top official of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) says the union is not fully satisfied with moves by government to address issues on the terms of resumption. Government, however, says the process to honour all the terms of resumption had started and would gain momentum. Government and the five unions representing workers in the public service signed the terms of resumption on June 23, which saw full resumption of work by June 29. Agreement was reached on the crucial areas of the terms of reference for the arbitration panel, payment of $302 million interim relief and the appointment of a commission of enquiry into certain events which had occurred during the strike. But according to the union official, there had been little or no movement to ensure the speedy implementation of the three-man arbitration panel so that, as stipulated by the terms of resumption, the panel would have its work completed by early September. The terms said that the panel would have been given eight weeks to complete its work beginning July 1. This meant that an award would have been made by the panel at least by early September. Labour Minister, Dr Henry Jeffrey, had told this newspaper that the unions and government had agreed on the choice of Barbados-based Guyanese management consultant Dr Aubrey Armstrong to head the three-man panel. The other members are the unions' nominee - economist, Dr Clive Thomas, who was turned down by government to head the panel - and government representative, Dr Gobind Ganga, director of research at the Bank of Guyana. Stabroek News has determined that Dr Armstrong is not even in the country yet, although both sides had said that he was briefed to some extent about the terms of reference of the arbitration panel. According to the union official, there had been some contact between government and the unions expressly to get the arbitration process started, but "there seems not to be the concomitant amount of urgency on the part of government officials to begin the process." GPSU President, Patrick Yarde, was out of the country and could not be reached but Dr Jeffrey told Stabroek News yesterday that Dr Armstrong had been written to in Barbados and had indicated a willingness to begin work shortly. He added that as a consequence, there was every chance that the arbitration panel would be ready to begin to work soon. Observers say that it is important that the arbitration panel begin its work soon since even though it had been agreed that workers would be given the $302 million as an interim payment, according to industrial relations practice they would have to wait on the final arbitration award by the panel before increases could be put on the various scales. The unions had put the end of September as the time by which the increases would be put on the various salary scales. According to the terms of resumption there was to be no victimisation on either side, retrenchment, demotions, transfers, terminations, dismissals or intimidation after workers resumed duty. However, according to officials of the GPSU and the four unions that make up the Federation of Unions of Government Employees (FUGE), they had been getting reports especially about transfers and retrenchment by some government agencies. "We are investigating these incidents before making a formal complaint to the minister," the union official said. The other important area, according to the terms of resumption, is the establishment of the Commission of Enquiry into the May 18, police shooting at the John Fernandes Wharf, incidents at the Finance Ministry on June 10, the Georgetown Hospital on May 31, and at GPSU headquarters on June 16. The terms of resumption further stated that "it is the understanding of the parties that the President may, at her discretion, specify such matters that she may consider proper without prejudice to the above." According to the Labour Minister, tomorrow President Janet Jagan will begin steps to see the formation of the commission. Meanwhile, Stabroek News understands that measures have been put in place to ensure that deductions from salaries for workers who were paid for the period they went on strike will begin on November 1, as stipulated in the terms of resumption. A spokesman from the mediation team which played a vital part in ending the strike says that the team stands ready to help if it seems that the arbitration process and other aspects of the terms of resumption were encountering difficulties. The team comprised representatives from the Guyana Bar Association, the Private Sector Commission, the Guyana Council of Churches and the Guyana Trades Union Congress.
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