Public servants to get retroactive salary increase by year end – President Ali

− urges public to trust Government

President Dr Irfaan Ali has assured public servants that they will receive a retroactive salary increase by year end, even as the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government focuses on the holistic improvement of the lives of all citizens.
He made this announcement during a press conference on Monday, in response to questions from the media. However, President Ali posited that his Government’s vision for public servants is not just about pay hikes. He said they want to empower public servants and ensure that they become homeowners, among other things.

“Let me assure you that the public servants will receive salary increases before the end of the year. And it will be retroactive. But I’m not only looking at salary increases. We’re looking at the mechanism that will allow every public servant to own their own home. They also benefit from the COVID cash grant.”
“But we want to empower public servants so that their children too can benefit from the scholarship programme. The public servants themselves are benefiting. And we are happy about this. So let us not limit the discourse only to the tax waivers and breaks and reversals. All of us benefit, including the public servants. So, it’s a holistic approach,” he said.
When it comes to the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), the President urged teachers and other public servants not to fall for the political gimmicks of Union leaders, including those from the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) whose General Secretary, Coretta McDonald, is a Member of Parliament (MP) for the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC).
“In terms of the GPSU threatening strike action because of salary increases, I’ve already made it clear. There will be salary increases before year end that will be retroactive. But we have to be careful. And my appeal to public servants, to teachers, is a very simple appeal. Trust the Government. By the end of these five years, you will all be better off. Do not be played politically. I see some ridiculous remarks sometimes from the head of the Teachers’ Union.”
“And I will not repeat them or engage in a discussion surrounding them. But I will engage directly in a discussion with the teachers. I will engage with you in a discussion so you understand where our country is heading. You’ll understand the opportunities of the future. And of course, you will be integrated in this new Guyana,” President Ali said.
In the 2021 Budget, some $10 billion was budgeted in the estimates under the heading, “Revision of Wages and Salaries” – a huge part of which the Government had said was for salary increases for public sector workers.
Despite this, the GPSU had announced back in April that it had written to President Ali on the issue of negotiations on wages, salaries, and allowances for public servants, which they had said was overdue.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Budget in 2020 provided for $7 billion in COVID-19 relief cash grants to households across Guyana, $2 billion of one-off grants to the more than 60,000 public sector employees, and $1.1 billion in year-end bonuses to some 19,000 front-line workers in the health sector and the Disciplined Services.