LABOR STRUGGLES TO UNIFY AS GOG SEIZES INITIATIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000158 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12598: N/A TAGS: ELAB PGOV GY SUBJECT: LABOR STRUGGLES TO UNIFY AS GOG SEIZES INITIATIVE ¶1. SUMMARY: A number of simmering labor issues have emerged in the run-up to the elections. The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) is in an ongoing struggle for government salary arbitration with unclear ends and limited impact to date. The Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC) is contesting a proposal to amend the Trade Union Recognition Act that would effectively remove it from the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board. Meanwhile, the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) staged a one-day sickout February 1 to protest for a wage increase. A climate of divisive racial politics and historical suspicion of organized labor's motives undermine the potential for reconciliation in the near-term. END SUMMARY. -------------- REVIEW OF RECENT ACTIVITY -------------- ¶2. The new year has seen several actions on the part of Guyana's labor unions. On January 19 parliament tabled a bill to amend the Trade Union Recognition Act of 1997 that proposes to replace the current law's requirement to consult with the most representative trade union association (i.e. the GTUC) in making appointments to the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board with a requirement to consult the 5 largest unions. This has encountered strong opposition from the umbrella GTUC, which claims the bill is an attempt to pack the board with representatives more loyal to the government. Several unions, including the GPSU, the GTU, and the Commercial and Clerical Workers Union, picketed outside parliament on the day of the bill's first reading January 19. ¶3. On February 1, the Guyana Teachers Union staged a "stress day" to protest the government's handling of wage negotiations. Participation among teachers in urban Georgetown and New Amsterdam was reportedly widespread, although teachers in rural schools did not appear to actively participate. ¶4. On February 8, the GPSU staged a lunchtime march through downtown Georgetown to call for salary arbitration and protest the appointment of contract workers in the civil service. Turnout was estimated at around two hundred, well below expectations. Several membership groupings failed to appear, including employees of the University of Guyana. Opposition MP Stanley Ming and third party candidate Peter Ramsaroop marched alongside GPSU president Patrick Yarde. -------------- THE ISSUES -------------- ¶5. According to Yarde, the PSU's major grievance is the GOG's failure to negotiate civil service salaries or to pass the issue to arbitration. Parliament approved a 7% wage increase for the public sector in 2005, which the GPSU interprets as a unilateral move to undermine its efforts to extract better conditions. The Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Ministry, Nanda Gopaul, counters that the issue is simply one of numbers. In addition to straining Guyana's budget in the face of restraints on civil service salaries required by international funding institutions, raising public sector salaries any higher risks outpacing wage growth in the private sector. Gopaul also points to Guyana's last experience with arbitration, the Armstrong Arbitration Tribunal of 1999-2000, which resulted in awards that exceeded the amount budgeted by the Ministry of Finance. Gopaul also argues that the GOG does not have the authority to negotiate without parliamentary approval, and the PSU has rejected efforts to establish an independent commission to advise parliament on the matter. ¶6. As far as the Trade Union Recognition Bill is concerned, GTUC President Andrew Garnett argues that amending the Trade Union Recognition Act to include the PNC-aligned GPSU, GTU and the Guyana Labor Union (GLU),which is presided over by opposition leader Robert Corbin, among the five recognized unions is a deceptively inclusive gesture on the part of the GOG. Each of these unions refuses to engage in any meaningful negotiations with the government, leaving the remaining two unions on the amended board, the Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Clerical, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) as the only effective representatives of labor. The latter two unions are closely aligned with the ruling PPP/C; the president of GAWU, Komal Chand, is a member of the PPP Executive Committee. Garnett argues that the Labor Ministry's provision of the bill to the GTUC just two days before it was tabled in parliament indicates the government is negotiating in bad faith. ¶7. The GOG counters that the GTUC membership is largely made up of "paper unions" that do not have a broad-based constituency. As a result, it views the amendment as an effort to specify vague language in the current bill that refers to consultation with the most representative union. Chief Labor Officer Mohammed Akeel also argues that a 1988 constitutional amendment, passed after a GTUC-negotiated wage settlement that exceeded the government's ability to pay, eliminated the legal obligation to consult with the TUC. Instead, the government will continue to negotiate through a tripartite commission of labor, industry, and government representatives. -------------- THE POLITICAL CONTEXT -------------- ¶8. Underlying these issues is a political context of suspicion and division within the labor movement in Guyana, much of it deeply personal. The GOG roundly condemns the GPSU actions as politically motivated. Gopaul provided EconOff a briefing paper ostensibly based on information received from dissident members of the GPSU that alleges that union is planning to disrupt the country with the support of "the Buxton resistance group" in the coming months. The statement also alleges that the U.S. diaspora is financing arrangements in the hopes that the GPSU can act along the lines of the political strikes of the 1960's. While the credibility of such claims is uncertain, this sentiment is indicative of the long history of suspicion that clouds labor unions in Guyana. Gopaul further insists that the GPSU missed a "golden opportunity" for compromise 18 months ago, when Yarde apparently undermined negotiations with the Office of the President by blasting President Jagdeo on an a television talk show. ¶9. For his part, Yarde accuses the GOG of heavy-handedness in its handling of the union's demonstrations to date. Yarde labels the heavy police presence along the GPSU's February 8 march route as a "blatant act of intimidation" and blames it for the low turnout. Ramsaroop has also condemned the police presence as adding to tensions. Yarde also insists that he received word from private sector sources that President Jagdeo has said he would just as soon eliminate the GPSU if he could find a way to do so. -------------- WHAT COMES NEXT? -------------- ¶10. The GPSU has announced a second lunchtime march planned for the same route on February 15. Yarde has stated his commitment to non-violent industrial action, and the prospects of major civil disruption seem unlikely for several reasons. First, the low turnout at the previous march, be it due to intimidation or a lack of coordination within the public service union, suggests the mandate for major industrial action on the part of the PSU's membership is weak. Second, the wage increase seems to have undercut the union's efforts to mobilize its sagging membership. Finally, Yarde observed that resource constraints may limit the GPSU's ability to sustain action along the lines of the 57-day strike in 1999, after which the union lost its ability to automatically collect membership dues as an agency shop. Yarde is also working to improve relations with the GTUC. Meanwhile, the GTU reportedly had a productive meeting with Chief Cabinet Secretary Roger Luncheon on February 13 and agreed to meet again to discuss maters such as paid leave, class size, and allowances. ¶11. Garnett informed EconOff on February 14 that Chief Cabinet Secretary Roger Luncheon agreed to delay the second reading of the Trade Union Recognition Amendment Bill, originally scheduled for February 16. Later this month Luncheon is expected to provide the GTUC with a list of unspecified conditions under which the GOG would withdraw the bill. Privately, both Gopaul of the Public Service Ministry and the GTUC's Garnett are amenable to working with each other. Gopaul confided to EconOff that President Jagdeo has expressed a willingness to withdraw support for the amended Trade Union Recognition Act if the unions would be willing to come together to build consensus. Garnett expressed a strong desire to keep the GTUC free of association with any political party. BULLEN