1120 GPL employees to get 5% retroactive salary increase for 2020

…Govt invites disaffected workers, unions to negotiating table
Following an agreement with the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) has agreed to pay some 1120 employees a five per cent salary increase for 2020.
The agreement, signed between the power company and the union on Monday at the Labour Ministry, will cater for 1120 non-management staff. It provides for the workers to be paid a five per cent increase for the year 2020. Negotiations for the years 2021 to 2023 are yet to be completed.

According to NAACIE General Secretary Dawchan Nagasar, the union will soon be back at the table for further discussions. These discussions will pertain to emoluments and other benefits due to the workers.
“It always feels good when you can come to an agreement for the betterment of both the workers and the company. We started this process in July of last year. There were some hiccups and delays in getting this agreement. We haven’t completed this process as yet. This is just one part in the process.
“The workers, the union, and the company have agreed for a five per cent all-inclusive payment for wages and salaries for the year 2020. We are continuing to negotiate and discuss 2021 to 2023. There are some fringe benefits that we have already agreed to be implemented from 2021, but we haven’t signed that as yet. As soon as we finish those discussions, we will be here again,” Nagasar said, expressing hope that the matter can be sorted out as soon as possible.

Satisfaction
Meanwhile, Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton expressed satisfaction that the Ministry was able to mediate a solution to the dispute. He also extended an olive branch to other disaffected workers agitating for increased wages and salaries, urging them to come to the negotiation table so that there could be “regular signings and not squabbling”.
“The fact is strikes and walkouts and sit-ins benefit no one. It obstructs work and it causes employees to suffer, to lose wages. And therefore, at any instance, when the Ministry of Labour can intervene to ensure we can bring parties together to work out all the pressing issues, to ensure they don’t have to go into combat, we’re always pleased.
“The recent function of the Ministry of Labour is to ensure that we manage labour relations in a way that it contributes to the development of the country. The agreement is welcome. And as Minister, I look forward to other combatants that they can sit down and negotiate and dialogue and come to a middle to resolve these issues,” Hamilton said.
Acting Chief Labour Officer Michella Baburam also commended GPL and NAACIE for arriving at an amicable agreement, and encouraged both parties to continue their negotiations on future proposals – negotiations which the Labour Ministry stood ready to facilitate.
GPL Deputy Chief Executive Officer Renford Homer, meanwhile, noted that the company was heartened that the negotiations for wages and salaries for 2020 were amicably concluded. He reiterated that the power company was intent on continuing discussions with the union to establish a three-year Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) by mutual consent.
Last month, a number of GPL workers had protested on Main Street, Georgetown for the finalisation of long-awaited salary increases. Workers were peeved because of reports that GPL Directors got their own increases before them, although the company has vehemently denied claims that a 12 per cent increase in basic salaries was given to these Directors.
For its part, GPL had made it clear at the time that the protests were unnecessary, since negotiations were ongoing. GPL had explained that it made proposals to NAACIE in 2020 for a three-year CLA that would cover from 2020 to 2022.
The proposal had included a restricted performance-based incentive that would have positively impacted the annual salary increases. According to GPL, negotiations resumed in March 2021, and there was mutual agreement on 66 clauses and disagreement on only two clauses: across-the-board increases and the performance-based incentive. (G3)