Public servants payout delayed --union miffed
by Gitanjali Singh
A number of government agencies and ministries were yesterday unable to make the back-pay and salary increases promised by President Bharrat Jagdeo, and the Guyana Public Service Union is miffed. The joint services reportedly received their 12 per cent salary increases and back pay since last week, while the ministries of Home Affairs, Finance and Foreign Affairs and the Office of the President were among those who were paid normal salaries last week. However, the Ministry of Education, including teachers, and the Ministry of Health are among those government departments which have not been paid even regular salaries as yet. A Finance Ministry official said yesterday that monies were being deposited into the various ministries and agencies' accounts to facilitate the 31.06 per cent award to the public servants and the 12 per cent increase for teachers. An education ministry source said that the ministry is expecting to pay salaries as well as the back-pay by Wednesday after the Guyana Teachers Union (GTUC) agreed to have one cheque issued to teachers covering increased salaries and the back-pay. President Jagdeo, at a media briefing on Wednesday last week, promised the payout by yesterday and asked anyone who had not received their back-pay and salary to contact him. GPSU President, Patrick Yarde, up to the time of speaking with this newspaper late yesterday afternoon said no back pay has been paid, but the union understands that monies were being transferred into the various agencies' accounts. He expects that with this having taken place, the payout would be effected during this week but described the government's action regarding the payout as "disappointing and provoking". The deadline for the payout was October 15, but though Jagdeo had committed his government to paying the award, no moves were made to secure supplementary provisions in parliament to effect the payment until last Friday when $1.75 billion was sought. Yarde said that after the devastating 55-day strike, one would have thought that the government would respect the agreement it entered into, as the union had. The GPSU head said the union had wanted a 30-day deadline to pay the award as it felt this was adequate for the government to mobilise resources. However, he said, the government pleaded for more time and the union agreed to a two-week extension. The interim payout of 25 per cent (different percentages apply to different scales) was only made up to August and Yarde said this was also on the understanding that the government would pay the arbitration award within the deadline. Accusing the government of being "callous", Yarde said that at no time has the government communicated to the GPSU about it being unable to meet the deadline and why this would be so. He said he wrote to Labour Minister, Dr Henry Jeffrey, prior to October 15, on the issue with no response and a second letter was dispatched after the deadline expired. "For the government to make going to parliament an excuse for not paying is totally unacceptable. The government has called out parliament before and since this was a budget promise of the finance minister and the promises of the new President of a new approach, the government should have called parliament out of recess to seek the supplementary provisions," Yarde argued. The increases payable are retroactive to January 1, less the interim payout of 4.6 per cent to teachers and joint services and 25 per cent to public servants on a sliding scale.
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