The Guyana Public Service Union has slammed the announced 7% across the board salary increase for public servants as shameless and insensitive.

GPSU President Patrick Yarde in an interview with News Source said while the government has offered the 7% increase for 2021, it has offered absolutely nothing for 2020 and that is more than insulting to the public servants of Guyana who have been working throughout the pandemic during the past two years.

“This is another shameless display of the government and it is one we have been putting up with for quite some time with governments and it’s not confined to one. And it is one for the entire nation to look at. When they had election campaigning you had big slogans by this government of 50% increase for public servants, and after being in office for more than a year, covering a two-year period, 2020 and 2021…all they could come with is 7% for public servants for one year after they went through the entire 2020, the most deadly year in my lifetime…2020 and they offered not one cent”, Mr. Yarde said.

The GPSU President said the government continues to ignore the union and has refused to meet with the union on salary issues, despite the union dispatching several requests.

“It is so insulting, it is so insensitive with the increase that has occurred in the cost of living over the period 2020 and 2021 and the gimmicks that they are referring to these handouts of $25,000 and all this nonsense which clearly was not given to everyone”,

According to the GPSU President, the union had to be smart earlier this year in not calling out the workers to strike at a time when they were dealing with a pandemic and its hardships.

The Guyana Public Service Union President said while the government had a lot of say about breaching of the constitution in relation to last year’s elections, it is already doing the same by not respecting the collective bargaining agreement and continuing to ignore the representative of the workers.

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