| – GGMC Commissioner -says positive outcome of negotiations in the near future seems bleakCommissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Rickford Vieira says that the future for negotiations on wages and salaries for its employees appears to be bleak, based on the behaviour of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU).Vieira, in a recent interview, also said that the subsequent prompting of a strike by the Union which occurred over several weeks was also in bad faith as negotiations were said to be ongoing at the time.GGMC staff had downed tools during the week to register their dissatisfaction at the pace at which the Management of the Commission is moving to negotiate on increases in salaries and wages.GPSU has been pressing for workers to receive as much as a 35 per cent increase on their wages and salaries but claimed that the Commission has been prolonging the negotiations.More significantly, strikers who spoke with Kaieteur News said that the lack of field presence due to the strike in the interior will result in widespread illegal mining and robberies in all the mining Districts. As a result,NFL Jerseys Supply, they said that revenue collection would be minimized. “It will be a huge challenge to pull the sector back once the industrial action is resolved,” one senior staffer opined. The employees hope that the Commission would realize their importance and the consequences of their strike and thus act in a timely manner.Meanwhile, the GGMC Commissioner attempted to explain the genesis of the matter. He said that the previous management had wanted to modernize the Commission to deal with an expanding industry.“So they hired two specialists, Sandra Jones and Earl John,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, to do an organizational review where they looked at all the staff and how long they worked in addition to their qualifications so as to determine the competency level to deal with expanding roles .GGMC was expected to implement the finished product of that study but for some reason it (the study) was dormant since 2009 and no one picked it up until late 2012.“The Management team then decided that this was a good opportunity to revisit the Jones and John study, since the sector was doing very well and it would bring us in line with what is required for a modern organization, which deals with the mining sector. We brought it back to the Board as it was in 2009 and we were mandated to have it updated and brought back to the Board. During that time, we discovered that there was a lot of ‘bundling’, meaning that those who were working very long with the Commission, ended up with increases way above those who are very qualified with the requisite experience for high positions but just came into the organization. For example; you would have a technician and an engineer working for the same salary because one was there for many years…”The GGMC Commissioner said that the process of updating the document saw such changes being made and it was subsequently taken to the Board, where it was reviewed and later approved.Vieira said that the GGMC staff had downed tools in 2013, but had eventually settled for an eight percent increase while negotiations continued.“We had a terms of resumption and it stated that we need to conclude the Jones and John assessment for 2013, but if we had dealt with the percentage increases for that time and just do one pay off, we would have affected that assessment which was updated…We have had six meetings since then and we are to finalize the way forward,Cheap Jerseys,” he added.Vieira asserted that on January 2, a few Managers were at the Commission and “out of the blue” some received a letter from the Union stating that since it failed to implement the assessment and since it did not provide a favourable offer, there would be a strike.“We had something on the table that the Union didn’t respond to but they decided to forge ahead with the strike…We have a recognition agreement with the Union that says in cases of disputes, the steps to be taken, so the strike was a breach of that agreement and was in bad faith. Further, if we are in negotiations,Nike NFL Jerseys China, how can you strike? If we aren’t talking then a strike is understandable. Nonetheless, the workers decided to withhold their services but it was a Management initiative to resuscitate this assessment but the perception is that we don’t want it for the staff which is rather ironic,Wholesale NBA Jerseys,” Vieira stated.The GGMC Commissioner also noted that the Union was written to in relation to the breach of the agreement.He noted that while some members of the GGMC team have joined the strike, the Commission has enforced a few measures or interventions to keep the organization afloat.Asked if negotiations are likely to be resumed soon and bear fruit positive results, Vieira responded, “We had one meeting since the strike, but the GGMC branch members walked out of that meeting and left the Union representatives with our Management team. So we think that there is not a lot of collaboration or the branch Managers and the Union members are not on the same page…. there appears to be some amount of disunity and I think that the tail is probably wagging the dog…But what can we negotiate now? If we did our part what can we negotiate with what we are facing?”However,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, it is the belief of the strikers that the Minister of Natural Resources, Robert Persaud, has the power to end the current stalemate but for whatever reason, has refused to take any action. |
