Split in tribunal delays public service pay award -Armstrong denounces pressure being placed on him By Courtney Jones Stabroek News August 31, 1999 A pay award by the public service arbitration tribunal has been put back by 24 hours in a bid for consensus and chairman of the body, Dr Aubrey Armstrong yesterday deprecated efforts--not by the unions--to pressure him on this issue. Armstrong revealed that there is a split in the tribunal and he has voted with the unions' representative on a pay award. The government's representative, Dr Gobind Ganga then asked for time to compile a minority report and he has been given 24 hours to do this. Armstrong, a Guyanese-born, Barbados-based management consultant told reporters half an hour after the scheduled handing over of the arbitration report to the unions' and government's representatives at 2 pm yesterday that the arbitration panel did not have a consensus decision. "I have been put under enormous pressure. Let me say this I am not giving in to any pressure. The next call I get I will report it to the international and the regional media. I am not for sale and I am not going to be pressured. Let me put that very clearly and I have not been pressured by the union's side." The panel also comprised apart from Ganga--director of Research at the Bank of Guyana--noted regional and local economist, Dr Clive Thomas. "Let me just say that we have a majority/minority decision. One member of the tribunal, Dr Gobind Ganga had dissented and has asked for one day to write a minority report," Armstrong said. He disclosed that the chairman had decided to cast his vote with the representative of the unions for the award and that the government side has disagreed with the award. Dr Ganga withdrew from the arbitration process on Sunday, Armstrong said "I have checked with counsel and I am told it was my call as to whether we go without his [Ganga's] submission," Armstrong told union and government representatives at the boardroom of the Ministry of Health. He said that as a consequence of Ganga's dissenting vote he had chosen to rule that he would give Ganga "one day of grace to have the minority report." He said that he felt that in the interest of the nation, an extra day was needed, not only for the minority report to be submitted by Ganga but because he felt an extra day was needed for the panel to arrive at a consensus. But a grim and obviously angry Armstrong went on to say that he has been put under tremendous pressure as chairman of the arbitration panel. He did not say from whom or where this pressure emanated. He said that twenty years ago he had resigned from the public service because another politician gave him an instruction which he refused to carry out. "I have been put under enormous pressure. Let me say this I am not giving in to any pressure. The next call I get I will report it to the international and the regional media. I am not for sale and I am not going to be pressured. Let me put that very clearly and I have not been pressured by the union's side," Armstrong said. He emphasised that "everybody must back off". Armstrong said he came to Guyana with the understanding that he was made chairman because both sides agreed on his appointment. "I must not be pressured. I will not be pressured and I am not going to fold," he added. Armstrong said that if there could be some dialogue within the panel and consensus arrived at last night, he would "love to come here smiling and say to you we have a consensus. If not we will say to you we have a majority decision, the arbitration chairman said. When Stabroek News spoke to Armstrong on Sunday, the chairman said that at yesterday's scheduled presentation of the report he intended to give an overview of what was involved in the process of coming up with the award before presenting the document to Labour Minister, Dr Henry Jeffrey. Government representatives with the exception of Budget Director in the Ministry of Finance, Winston Jordan, were noticeably absent at the Health Ministry. Dr Jeffrey told Stabroek News during a telephone interview that he thought the postponing of the announcement of the award in the hope that consensus could be arrived at last night by the panel "was a good thing". "I would prefer that consensus be arrived at on this very important matter," Jeffrey said. The labour minister said that in his experience, a minority report in a case like this had its own problems. Jeffrey said that from his first meeting with Armstrong he had stressed, and Armstrong had agreed, the importance of the panel arriving at a consensus on the issue. "We want consensus and if this takes another day, then so be it," the minister said. Representatives from the public service unions included Acting General Secretary of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Joe Brandt; President of the Federation of Unions of Government Employees (FUGE), Seelo Baichan; Senior Counsel Rex Mc Kay and attorney-at-law, Joseph Harmon. Consultants to the unions, Asgar Ally and Leslie Melville were also present. GPSU President, Patrick Yarde left the country yesterday on an International Labour Organisation (ILO) trip to Peru and Chile. Ganga could not be contacted by Stabroek News for a comment yesterday. The arbitration panel set up to look into the pay dispute between the public service unions and government was part of the terms of resumption entered into by the two sides to end the 55-day strike by public servants on June 23. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples