GBC, GTV to merge February 28
Severance letters, new contracts to be issued next week
Stabroek News
January 24, 2004

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Severance letters are to be issued next week to 170 employees of the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and the Guyana Television Broadcasting Company (GTV) as the government presses ahead with the merger of the two entities.

The merger is expected to take effect on February 28, 2004, according to information yesterday from the Privatisation Unit (PU).

Temporary six-month contracts at the same salary as of the date of the merger and an 8% payment in lieu of benefits are to be made available to those workers, according to the PU.

Copies of the new contracts will be issued along with the severance letters and the persons seeking employment with the new entity will be required to sign these letters within two working days.

According to the PU, severance cheques will be calculated in accordance with the respective collective labour agreements (CLA), "or such better terms as may be agreed by the CCWU (Clerical and Commercial Workers Union) and government."

Since the government announced the proposed merger of the two entities, the Privatisation Unit has been negotiating with the CCWU on the government's behalf. The CCWU is the bargaining agent for the two companies, which comprise a collective workforce of 170 persons.

The Privatisation Unit said that on account of compromises made on its part, some progress has been made in the negotiations with the CCWU. Only one fundamental difference remains between the two parties relating to continuity and the related matter of whether severance should be payable at the time of the merger.

Head of the Privatisation Unit Winston Brassington said that following the merger internal advertisements will be placed for 133 positions - including those at Linden - inviting the workers to apply. He said that new organisational, salary and grade charts would be drawn up.

He said also that once the employees on temporary contracts apply, senior personnel of the new company and the Privatisation Unit would interview them. He said too that selections would be made in a transparent manner.

The employees who are offered permanent jobs can expect to have these jobs offered within three months of the merger or the soonest date thereafter, he stated.

He added that the positions not filled internally will be advertised publicly and if suitable applicants are not available, then persons not yet offered permanent employment may be placed in those positions.

According to Brassington, the CCWU argued that severance should not be paid at the date of the merger and workers should continue in the new entity. He said the CCWU put forward the following proposals:

1. Approximately 24 to 34 persons may be willing to leave at the time of the merger and they should be given voluntary severance.

2. Remaining persons can be placed in the new organisation by mapping them to similar positions in the new entity, while severance could be paid to persons if they do not perform during the transition period. The union had earlier proposed that persons had the option of receiving severance during the transition period, but this was not accepted, Brassington said.

"The government views the CCWU as well-intentioned but not practical, without allowing for the payment of severance, for the following reasons:

1. Persons may be placed in different positions that they may be dissatisfied with,

2. Persons may be given different responsibilities which may be slightly higher or lower than that previously enjoyed - some persons may again be dissatisfied;

3. Persons may have different supervisors and managers and they may find conditions of work less acceptable; pay scales and benefits may be better or worse (taken as a whole) and can lead to dissatisfaction when compared to the previous position," Brassington said.

He said that it was difficult to merge the two companies with their different pay scales, grades, job descriptions, work conditions and benefits. "Government has proposed instead that all employees be paid severance and be given preference in obtaining permanent employment in the new organisation," he said.

He added that details of the new organisational structure have been shared with the CCWU and will be posted for all employees. He noted that there have been requests for severance at the date of the merger from many persons and in his view this is fair based on the CLA of the GBC (which states that severance is payable in the event of amalgamation).

"We have also received petitions from the GTV workers that are outside of the bargaining unit, all seeking to have severance at the date of the merger," Brassington said.

He said that government is not looking to change the CCWU as the bargaining unit and will seek to retain it and sign a new CLA with it at the end of the transition period. He stated that the new entity will seek to maintain working relations with the CCWU during the period preceding the merger and thereafter.

According to Brassington, "These will be difficult times for all. Given that the GTV and GBC staff amounts to 170 persons, and that 24-34 persons are likely to leave at the date of the merger, and that 133 positions are available in the new organisation, the chances of employment of those remaining should be good."