AFC predicts inflation will surpass 8 percent, calls for union negotiation & minimum 50 % pay increase

Institute for Action Against Discrimination (IFAAD) May Day Message

Lincoln Lewis: Defender of Workers’ Rights

The Alliance For Change (AFC) is predicting by year end inflation will likely surpass 8%. This projection makes dishonest the Bank of Guyana and Government’s claim that inflation will be 4.1% by the end of the year. “Now the Bureau of Statistics has confirmed our prediction to be true. Inflation for May – June 2022 was reported at 1.7%. This brings the total inflation for 2022 to 4.9% for the first half of the year.”

Inflation deals with the general increase in prices and the decline in purchasing value of the dollar. Some consequences of inflation are: purchasing power is eroded; people purchase less for more dollars; and the poor are hurt disproportionately.

2022 will mark the single worst year for inflation in decades, said the party which is in a parliamentary coalition with the A Partnership For National Unity (APNU). And given the extreme rate of inflation the AFC is calling for immediate action to address the erosion of spending power that workers across Guyana are facing.

The party is contending that in spite of a total $597.6 Billion the government continues “to fail to provide any relief to public servants.” Joining with the trade unions and others in demanding the government engage in collective bargaining with unions in the public sector, the party wants the government to “immediately start collective bargaining with stakeholders for an inflation base increase with a timeline of three months at maximum to be completed.”

Last month the Guyana Public Service Union took the government, who is the employer of public servants, to court for failing to observe various conventions, laws and regulations that ensure the rights of public service workers.

The Guyana Teachers Union has submitted their proposal to the Ministry of Education since 2020 and was advised the proposal has been sent to the Office of the President (OP) who will contact the Union. The Union said they stand ready to begin negotiation but continue to be advised when OP is ready they will call the Union.

The AFC has also taken the “opportunity to remind the Unions and the PPP administration that back in 2016, with a budget of $230 billion the PPP representatives, at the level of the National Assembly, called for a 50% increase to be given to public servants. So certainly with the allocations for 2022 being $597.6 Billion to date, negotiations should most certainly begin at a minimum of 50%.”