MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT/CEO, MR. PATRICK YARDE ON THE OCCASION OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GUYANA PUBLIC SERVICE UNION

One hundred years ago, the Guyana Public Union (GPSU) started its journey towards representation for rights of native Public Servants, in order to ensure fair and equal treatment of these workers, who were called Civil Servants in keeping with the Colonial branding of these workers at that time. The mission was not an easy one, because Civil Servants had had to obtain the permission of the then Governor to form the British Guiana Civil Service Association (BGCSA). The required permission was obtained in May 1923, thereby enabling the association to be formally established on June 8, 1923, when the first President of the Civil Service Association, J. Mullin was elected at the meeting held at the St. Andrew’s School, and soon thereafter came the benefits of representation for workers in the Civil Service.                                                                                     

Over the 100 years the BGCSA underwent metamorphoses from stereotypical representers of permanent establishment Civil Servants to a full-fledged trade union. It also underwent name changes from British Guyana Civil Service Association to Guyana Civil Service Association, then to Guyana Public Service Association and finally to the Guyana Public Service Union in 1975, when it merged with the Medical Employees Union (M.E.U).

There were a number of agreements made over the years between the Government of Guyana and the GPSU, which enhanced the collective bargaining relationship and became a part of the Public Service Rules, among other things, viz.

·         Check-off Agreement for union dues and agency fees;

·         Agreement for the Distribution of Circulars to Recognised Trade Unions/Staff Associations;

·         Agreement for the Secondment of Public Servants to recognised Trade Unions/Staff Associations on a full-time basis, without loss of service and promotion; and

·         The Agreement for the Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes, including wages, salaries and allowances

At the highest level of the Country, the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana guarantees the protection and integrity of the Public Service from political interference, as stated at Article 38G: Public service to be free from political influence. [10 of 2003]

“Article 38G

(1)   The integrity of the public service is guaranteed. No public officer shall be required to execute or condone irregular acts on the basis of higher orders.

(2)   The freedom of every public officer to perform his or her duties and fulfil his or her responsibilities is protected.

(3)   No public officer shall be the subject of sanctions of any kind without due process

(4)   In the discharge of his or her duties a public officer shall execute the lawful policies of the government”

The operations of the Union were also bolstered by Fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which were ratified by the Parliament of Guyana and are in force. These Conventions, which are listed below, are also core to the relationships that employees’ organisations, such as GPSU, have with Government, the employer and the rights and freedoms of workers.

Major Objectives of the GPSU currently are:

(a)    To secure the organisation in the Union of all employees in the Guyana Public Service, Commissions, Authorities, Regional Administrations, Municipalities, workers employed in any service enterprise, workers in general or otherwise specified in Rule 3(a)

(b)    To maintain and improve the standard and efficiency of the Public Sector, and all other agencies where members are employed.

(c)    To promote mutual respect and goodwill amongst the various branches of the Public Sector in Guyana, and to encourage loyalty and co‑operation in the best interest of Public Sector Employees and of the Public.

(d)    To promote harmonious relations and to represent   grievances of members to Government and other employers etc. with the desired intention of amicable agreement, whenever possible.

(p)  To have an active role in ensuring the practice and observance of good governance and respect for civil and human rights, civil liberties, fair dealing and equality.

(q)    To promote racial harmony, cultural and religious acceptance and tolerance among members and the wider society.

The GPSU has had many engagements with Governments over the years, a number of which yielded benefits for workers in the Public Service. Notable among these benefits are:

·         Security of tenure and/or employment of married women in the Public Service;

·         Security of tenure of pregnant women in the Public Service and enjoyment of maternity leave during and after pregnancy;

·         Equitable accommodation and meals across public services, during the performance of official duty;

·         The Lamaha Gardens Land Scheme for Public Service housing came into being in 1959 when members of B.G.C.S.A. formed a housing Coop and pooled their resources to acquire land for the housing scheme;

·         Following a 90 days’ strike in 1964, the B.G.C.S.A took a decision to form the British Guiana Civil Service Credit Union, which is currently known as the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union;

·          One month’s Tax free vacation allowances annually for Public Servants;

·         Unification of the “Open Vote Establishment” with the “Permanent Establishment” to enable former Open Vote workers to receive superannuation and other benefits;

·         The establishment of the five-day work week;

·         The amendment of the Constitution of Guyana to approve the establishment of the Public Service Appellate Tribunal, which facilitated in 1984 Public Servants seeking redress from decisions of the Public Service Commission and the provision of legal services at the Public Service Appellate Tribunal, on which the GPSU is entitled to have a nominee;

·         The inclusion of National Insurance Scheme Contributions as non-taxable allowances;

·         The inclusion of GPSU One-Year Certificate in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management as an entry qualification for attending the University of Guyana, as well as, a recognised qualification for appointment to certain positions in the Public Service;

·         Special leave with full pay to attend Trade Union activities;

·         Payment of a flood relief to members following the 2005 floods;

The Union also had significant inputs into the development of the salaries and wages landscape. Among the most significant were the undermentioned increases that were either negotiated bilaterally or awarded at the level of an arbitration tribunal, viz.

·         Tax-free salary increases of twenty (20) percent on December 31, 1992 salaries with effect from July 1, 1993 (Negotiated);

·         A five (5) percent increase effective January 1, 1994 for workers on Bands 1 to 5 and a similar percentage effective July 1, 1994 for workers on Bands 6 to 14 (Negotiated);

·         Nine and one half (9½) percent interim pay increase effective January 1, 1998 and an increasing graduating scale of percentages of thirteen and one half (13½) percent (Bands 13-14), fourteen one half (14½) percent (Bands 11-12), fifteen (15) percent (Bands 9-10), fifteen one half (15½) percent (5-8), sixteen (16) percent (Band 4), twenty-four (24) percent (Band 3) and thirty (30) percent (Bands 1-2). The award included the payment of specialized allowances of fifteen (15) and twenty-five percent to “key and critical” staff (Negotiated);

·         A thirty-one point zero six (31.06) percent increase for the year 1999, based on the December 31, 1998 wages and salaries, followed by a twenty-six point six-six (26.66) percent increase on the December 31, 1999 wages and salaries, effective January 1, 2000 This award was made by the Armstrong Arbitration Tribunal following a fifty-seven days of strike action, which began on April 29, 1999, as a result of Government insistence that it would pay only a 4.6% increase to workers, even though the economy was very buoyant. This strike action was only second to the 1991 Nurses strike that lasted for seventy-seven (77) days;

·         By agreeing to honour the outcomes of the 1999 Armstrong Arbitration Tribunal, the Government was bound by the award requiring de-bunching of employees and payments of increments, with effect from January 1, 1999, together with payments to the Professional, Managerial and Technical personnel that would otherwise “bring them to within 10% of the Private Sector median eventually”, by December 31, 2000. These measures have not yet been implemented by Government to date;

·         Mention must also be made of the July 1997 report of a Committee set up by the late President Cheddi B. Jagan in the year 1997 to “Consider the question of wages and salaries in the Public Service. The GPSU as part of the Presidential Committee negotiated the payment of a differentiated increase, where Band 1 employees at the lower limit was to receive 25% and employees on Band 14 a minimum of 15% and employees graded on the Bands between would be paid various percentages between 25% and 14%. The pay-outs that were scheduled for mid-August 1997 and the end of November 1997 were however scuttled by the Government.

·         Adjustments, in keeping with the percentages awarded of 1999, to “General allowances: overtime, duty allowances, etc.” were also to be increased by 31.06% for 1999 and 26.66% for 2000. Government of Guyana, the employer, has also not implemented this requirement, to date.

These increases set the tone that have created the bedrock on which the wages and salaries of Public Servants stands today. For the record, had it not been for the vigilance and tactical interventions of the GPSU at that time, the current earnings of Public Servants would have been less than half of what it is today.

The hypocrisy that surrounds the refusal to pay a living wage to Public Servants is evident in the passing of legislation under the Jagdeo’s Administration to permit the President to receive significantly higher emoluments and the Granger Administration’s decision to pay the political elite a 50% increase, while neglecting to do likewise for the suffering Public Servants. There was also the challenge by a former President and the sitting President, while being a member of the opposition, to the Granger Administration in the year 2016 for its failure to utilize the collective bargaining process in the determination salary increases and the subsequent, but pointed proclamation by the PPP/C Opposition Leader that Public Servants deserve no less than 50% increases. However now that they are in office and with the availability of significantly more economic resources, Public Servants still receive paltry handouts, annually.

Financial erosions of the GPSU gains on wages and salaries over the years have occurred and are occurring through persistent inflationary trends and loss of purchasing power as a result of currency depreciations, among other things. Guyana’s Governments over the years have continuously failed to harness these negative economic circumstances, but stubbornly over the last twenty-three (23) years, since the Armstrong Arbitration Tribunal award of 1999, discarded the tenets of the Law, in order to abuse workers’ rights and privileges through the imposition of unilateral miniscule increases.

In the year 2000, the PPP/C Government maliciously replicated the termination of Agency Fees Agreement, which at first was undertaken by late President Desmond Hoyte. Added to this, it derecognized and removed GPSU representation on a number of Agency Boards, such as, Guyana Forestry Commission and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), while denying workers/employees in agencies, such as, Guyana Fire Service the right to trade union representation. This dastardly action taken against the GPSU was to compromise, suffocate and curtail the activities of the Union, an act which has not been undone or corrected to date. One of the significant programs that had had to be sacrificed because of the unconscionable act was the GPSU’s Certificate Training Programme that was a qualification recognised for entry into the University of Guyana, which enabled many members to reach entry requirements for university level education.

The GPSU is, nevertheless, proud to boldly recognise its contributions to improving the wages and salaries landscape of the workers of Guyana through the astute employment of industrial relations and the arsenal of tools available to Trade Unions. These contributions were realized at devastating cost to the Union, where it suffered the withholding of its check-offs, re-registration of its membership, arbitrary and irregular cancellation of its agency fees agreement and the arbitrary and unlawful de-recognition to represent employees of the Forestry Commission, MMA/ADA and many other Agencies.

Additionally, an Audit Staff, in collaboration with political elements at the Ministry of Finance, engaged in extreme measures by the removal of vouchers and related financial documents from the GPSU’s Secretariat, during the conduct of an audit in order to compromise the Union’s accountability and stewardship.

The 100th anniversary of the struggles of the GPSU that is being celebrated today Thursday June 8, 2023 is an occasion that members past and present must be proud, because of the Union’s stance for “Justice for the Public Employee”, amid political assaults on the constitutional rights of workers and their Union and the sordid attempts to erode hard-won gains. It should be noted that the existence of the Union predates the formation of all political parties that ever existed in Guyana.

The achievements of the Union were made fundamentally because of the solid foundation laid by the forefathers and additionally through unity and solidarity of its membership over the 100 years of its existence. Without such endearing unity it would not have been possible to remove some of the obstacles to a better future. The struggle for better working conditions, security of tenure, equality and fair wages have been and continue to be our responsibility. However, it has been a worthwhile and meaningful journey of which all should be proud.

Brothers and Sisters, the future of our union, the Guyana Public Service Union, must be secured. Let us continue to be unified in the representation of the membership and it is our duty to defend the quality of necessary services delivered to the public at large impartially, who would ultimately feel the pressures from the fate of Public Servants, the largest employed group within the nation that are legally mandated to serve the citizenry and being responsible for their many family units.

It is the desire of the Leadership of the GPSU to strive without compromising the objectives of the Union in a professional and principled manner to develop and maintain harmonious relationships with the Government of Guyana and all other employers of our members. This is clearly adumbrated in (d) of our Union’s Constitution which guides us on our path and contribution to National Development in the interest and benefit of all Guyanese.

May God continue to bless the Guyana Public Service Union, its past and present officers and members, who fought and continue to fight tirelessly for the betterment of Public Servants, who provided and continue to deliver quality and efficient public service, over the 100 years of the struggle. It is the hope that the solid foundation built will remain in place for centenaries to come.

Long live the Guyana Public Service Union.