Union, GPL agree on 5% pay hike

– other parts of package for negotiation in Feb

The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) came to an agreement on Tuesday for the workers to take home a 5% increase, a day after they protested the initial proposal of 2%.

According to President of NAACIE, Kenneth Joseph, the union accepted the power company’s proposal and the two sides have also agreed on some other fringe benefits. “… There is an agreement and we have accepted the 5% across the board offer,” Joseph told Stabroek News on Tuesday, while stating that in addition to the retroactive increase that starts on January 1, 2016, they were also able to negotiate an automatic 3% on an incremental scale.

“We have reintroduced the scale that we had in 2001. Every worker who falls within that scale, from the bottom to the top, will receive an automatic 3% that coincides with the workers’ years of service plus the 5% across the board,” he added.

They also came to an agreement for the reintroduction of 0 – 10% performance incentives, based on the amount of work produced by the workers on a yearly basis.

However, he explained that while they were able to come to an agreement with a few terms and proposals, there are still parts of the “entire package” that need to be negotiated. “We want to have it completed and we have agreed we will start the new talks in February of next year,” he said, while pointing out that incentives such as meal and risk allowances and others will be part of that discussion.

Joseph also said that the union had advised the workers to go back to work and as far as he knew they would have resumed their positions. Additionally, he pointed out that approximately 800 workers will benefit from the proposals that were agreed on.

“We met this morning with the company’s CEO Mr Renford Homer and the Deputy Mr [Elwyn] Marshall and we are okay now. We can move into 2017,” he added.

While Stabroek News was unable to contact Homer yesterday, a spokesperson from the power company confirmed that the agreement was made.

On Monday, at least 30 GPL workers from the transmission and distribution department, gathered outside of the company’s Main Street, branch and voiced their concerns. The workers had explained to Stabroek News that while the union and the company had been negotiating since the starting of the year, GPL held steadfast to its 2% proposal, even after NAACIE had indicated a willingness to step back from its initial proposal of