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The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has stated the Government is undermining its legitimate efforts to represent and discharge its functions in the interests of its membership and its role in society. In a statement issued as initial comments to the 2023 National Budget, the Union said the impasse between the union and government has worsen, and “instead of the pursuing a path of good governance through respect for the rule of law and resolving issues along the legitimate processes of collective bargaining, [government] has for decades been pursuing means of undermining the GPSU in its legitimate efforts to represent and discharge its functions in the interests of its membership and its role in society.”
The Union said its position is very clear, public and unambiguous, that is, workers must be entitled to a living wage and the Government, as the employer, must set the example nationally. But “once more in 2023, a budget is presented, and it is deficient in this regard.”
Pointing out that from the inception of the relationship with PPP/C Governments, the Union has always indicated that it was concerned with the plight of Public Sector workers and took the position that as a matter of priority they must be lifted out of poverty through the improvement of conditions of service.
Last year the Union took the government to court, requesting the court direct the government to respect the collective bargaining as stipulated in the Constitution of Guyana, Article 147.
The Union said it stands firm in its position Government’s policies must portray its priorities. “Without any public apologies, the GPSU stands by the belief that the number one priority of the Government of Guyana must be the people of Guyana, of which workers are a part.”
And to the Union’s contention the government is failing to put people first, said it’s “a small wonder that the Kaieteur News of January 20, 2023, quotes the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as confirming that forty-three percent of Guyanese cannot afford healthy diets, while another five percent are under nourished.”
The finding, said the Union, goes to the grain of its position taken on the meagerness of salaries and wages paid to workers in Guyana over the decades past and the need for the Government to step up to its responsibilities to the people of Guyana, of which Public Sector workers must be a priority.
Turning to what the Union said has been “glowing commentary on Budget 2023,” the union said some comments that amount to nothing more than misrepresentations of facts.
Of course, it would have been surreal if Governments were to have acted in the best interest of the people, creating a utopia, where the pension could not be looked upon to support the recipient, but instead a monthly top-up in memory of patriotism and service given, noted the Union. “ This is sorely not the case, and the foreboding evidence of ever-increasing poverty and homelessness fills the Capital and the Country, daily.”
To this end the Union reminded it has proposed the following, but they were either ignored or frowned on: –
(i). The increase of the income tax threshold to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000.00) per month or one-third of the individual income, whichever is higher.
(ii). De-bunching of staff, awards of increments and incentives and the improvement of allowances and working conditions.
(iii). The income tax rates be further reduced to 10% on the first taxable $150,000 and 20% on the balance of taxable income, instead of the current methodology of 28% and 40%.
(iv). A non-taxable allowance of forty thousand dollars ($40,000.00) per month for dependents.
(v). A non-taxable allowance of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) per month for students who are dependents and are pursuing tertiary level education (eg. University of Guyana, Guyana School of Agriculture, Guyana Technical Institute etc.)
(vi). A reduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) to six percent (6%).
(vii). Remuneration increases should also take into consideration the inadequacy of salaries, when these are compared with the cost of living and remuneration of Public Workers throughout CARICOM States. There is no doubt that there is a negative disparity in pay, well to the disadvantage of the Guyanese Public Servants.
At a glance, the Union stated, only 1.7 percent of the $781.9 billion budget affords any relief to the working class, pensioners and the destitute, but with the ravages of the cost of living, etc. this would soon evaporate. “ It is most unfortunate for the people that it is the Executive populates the Legislature, creating no real basis for the people to examine and amend the atrocities contained in Budget 2023.”
The Union’s full text follows: –
GPSU Initial Comments on Budget 2023
From the inception of the relationship with PPP/C Governments, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has always indicated that it was concerned with the plight of Public Sector workers and took the position that as a matter of priority they must be lifted out of poverty through the improvement of conditions of service. In this regard, initially an encouraging agreement premised on good faith and accurate information was entered into on September 14, 1993 between the Government of Guyana and the GPSU. During the discussions that led to the agreement the Government undertook to work towards this goal and what was immediately affordable was paid to the workers, tax-free. As time passed, there was a rapid breakdown in the relationship, and it became clear that it was not genuine.
The relationship was somewhat resuscitated, when another agreement was entered into in 1997 when President Cheddi B. Jagan set up a bilateral committee with six government nominees and an equal number of trade union representatives to address the matter of the employed poor. Once more, even though the committee finalized its work and unanimously agreed on what could be done, the recommendations made to Government were scuttled.
To date, an impasse exists, and conditions have worsened, even though there was a change of Government for the 2015-2020 five-year period. The GPSU is faced with a situation whereby the Government of Guyana, instead of the pursuing a path of good governance through respect for the rule of law and resolving issues along the legitimate processes of collective bargaining, has for decades been pursuing means of undermining the GPSU in its legitimate efforts to represent and discharge its functions in the interests of its membership and its role in society. The GPSU’s position is very clear, public and unambiguous, that is, workers must be entitled to a living wage and the Government, as the employer, must set the example, nationally. Once more in 2023, a budget is presented, and it is deficient in this regard.
It is the firm position of GPSU that Government’s policies must portray its priorities. Further, without any public apologies, the GPSU stands by the belief that the number one priority of the Government of Guyana must be the people of Guyana, of which workers are a part. In its budgetary plan for 2023, it is clearly recognized that this is not the case and this would be manifested if an analysis of the allocations. It is therefore a small wonder that the Kaieteur News of today, January 20, 2023, quotes the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as confirming that forty-three percent of Guyanese cannot afford healthy diets, while another five percent are under-nourished. This finding goes to the grain of the position that GPSU has taken on the meagerness of salaries and wages paid to workers in Guyana over the decades past and the need for Government to step up to its responsibilities to the people of Guyana, of which Public Sector workers must be a priority.
There has been a lot of glowing commentary on Budget 2023, where there are some comments that amount to nothing more than misrepresentations of facts. There is ideally one truth that has been consistently unmasked by budgets for decades and that is an obvious disregard for the employed poor and the underprivileged by the creation of a system of intergenerational dependency, which has sustained the working class over time. This is the reason a supposedly intelligent serving Minister of Government, who is considered a legal luminary, uttered the most distasteful and disheartening words to the masses, indicating that “old age pension was not meant to ‘mind’ anyone, it’s just a pension.” This unenlightened statement, came from a predictable mindset to countermand the circumstances of old age pensioners, on whose backs this Country was built and who have suffered countless years on poor salaries and wages handouts at the behest of Governments, such as the one he serves. These persons continue be relegated to a life of poverty and dependency on Government’s handouts.
Of course, it would have been surreal if Governments were to have acted in the best interest of the people, creating a utopia, where the pension could not be looked upon to support the recipient, but instead a monthly top-up in memory of patriotism and service given. This is sorely not the case, and the foreboding evidence of ever-increasing poverty and homelessness fills the Capital and the Country, daily.
The GPSU, the representative of Public Servants, have made it clear, consistently and repeatedly, that Government as the major employer in Guyana has the responsibility to better the lot of its employees. The PPP/C Government, while admitting that their employees are the employed poor in Guyana, have not done anything willingly to lift Public Sector workers out of this morass. Instead, for twenty-five years to date, it has openly and consistently set out to destroy the employee’s basis of representation, alienate them from secure and pensionable employment, ignore the need for collective bargaining and pay starvation salaries and wages.
The following GPSU proposed measures, among other things, were made for budget 2023 that were either ignored or frowned upon, viz.
(i). The increase of the income tax threshold to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000.00) per month or one-third of the individual income, whichever is higher.
(ii). De-bunching of staff, awards of increments and incentives and the improvement of allowances and working conditions.
(iii). The income tax rates be further reduced to 10% on the first taxable $150,000 and 20% on the balance of taxable income, instead of the current methodology of 28% and 40%.
(iv). A non-taxable allowance of forty thousand dollars ($40,000.00) per month for dependents.
(v). A non-taxable allowance of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) per month for students who are dependents and are pursuing tertiary level education (eg. University of Guyana, Guyana School of Agriculture, Guyana Technical Institute etc.)
(vi). A reduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) to six percent (6%).
(vii). Remuneration increases should also take into consideration the inadequacy of salaries, when these are compared with the cost of living and remuneration of Public Workers throughout CARICOM States. There is no doubt that there is a negative disparity in pay, well to the disadvantage of the Guyanese Public Servants.
At a glance, only 1.7 percent of the $781.9 billion budget affords any relief to the working class, pensioners and the destitute, but with the ravages of the cost of living, etc. this would soon evaporate. It is most unfortunate for the people that it is the Executive populates the Legislature, creating no real basis for the people to examine and amend the atrocities contained in Budget 2023. This enlightenment should serve as a wakeup call to the people to demand legislative changes that would give them a voice in Parliament, since the cabal installed en bloc, with no identifiable constituencies have been proven capable of only lifting themselves and their cohorts to desirable heights, while denying same to the rest of the populace. Issues concerning the alleviation of poverty should encompass no less than twenty-five percent of the Country’s annual budgets and this should include components that provide a living minimum wage to Public Sector workers. In this regard, the GPSU is of the view that considering the costs of living currently and the suffering endured by workers over the ages, a living wage in Guyana should not be less than two hundred thousand dollars.
These measures, in the opinion of GPSU, would have been more beneficial to the working class and would have enabled them to better cope with the economic pressures at home, especially now that Government enjoys access and intends to drawdown a minimum of $208.9 billion from the Natural Resources Fund during 2023, compared to the approximate $126 billion that was utilized from the fund in 2022. The acceptance of these measures would certainly have lifted the apparent disdain that Government seems to have for Public Servants and put Guyana on a real path towards being the Dubai of South America, as is jocularly being spoken of in political circles.
The GPSU’s written proposals, now and over the years, could have positively impacted the workers, but these were totally ignored in Government’s financial plans. The prevailing cost of living has decimated the abilities of more than twenty-five thousand state workers to properly take care of themselves and families, including the possibilities of savings for the future and possible funding for rest and relaxation, which have all evaporated and are constantly being replaced by survival debt. These are the realities of the Guyanese workers, who struggle daily, and every five years go to the polls to elect Governments, that by their very policies are unwilling to implement policies that would lift them to betterment.
It is the belief of the GPSU that notwithstanding its proposals to Government, nothing should undermine its responsibilities to fairly treat, consider and address matters concerning the payment of a living wage to employees. In this regard, it is opportune to suggest that the starting point should be the updating of the basket of goods, upon which the consumer price index is determined to more accurately reflect the needs of today’s families, in order to properly relate to consumers’ woes and be realistic when determining salary and wage revisions. Additionally, Government’s chosen methodology of suffering workers throughout each year, then imposing pay increases at Christmas time, is a practice that sets up Public Sector workers to suffer at the hands of price gouging businesses, which sets its tentacles for such events to make a killing.
There seems to be a lingering and unspoken vendetta against Public Sector workers that constantly ushers in migration and crime at a swiffer pace than individual development. In the case of migration, blame mongers have chosen the Country’s first Executive President as the migratory stimulus, but since his passing thirty-eight years ago have hidden the statistical evidence that would rubbish that theory. The rise in crime has ushered in premature deaths and high expenditures to keep the lawless in captivity and the subsequent rehabilitation of errant citizens. It is nonetheless clear that Guyana’s Governments have never considered the correlation between the percentage of criminality in the State and political decisions made on the livelihood of the individuals.