By Kurt Campbell
[www.inewsguyana.com] – The main opposition party – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) – has come out in rejection of the promised five percent wage increase for Public Servants recently announced by Government.
According to Opposition Leader David Granger the increase is paltry, next to meaningless and is an assault on the standard of living of Public Servants.
He called on the Government to negotiate with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) in ‘good faith’ for the benefit of Public Servants and in the interest of efficient governance.
“We support the GPSU 25% proposed increase, we will not insert ourselves into the negotiations but we feel that the 5% is out of order … it will provide no improvement in the quality of life, Public Servants are entitled to a much higher percent increase,” the Opposition Leader added.
Granger told reporters during the party’s weekly press briefing on Friday (November 22) that factors such as high rate of inflation, income tax, VAT and NIS contributions will contribute to making the increase, that has been foisted on workers over the past decade meaningless.
He added that the act is a flagrant breach of the collective bargaining agreement between the Government and the GPSU to determine a consensual approach to wages and salaries.
Granger called on the Minister of Labor Dr. Nanda Gopaul to invoke a compulsory arbitration between the parties to arrive at a ‘living wage’ for all Public Servants.
