Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151) - Guyana (Ratification: 1983)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report.

In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that the Guyana Trades Union Congress was no longer empowered to negotiate wages and other conditions of service on behalf of public sector workers, but rather that individual unions were permitted to bargain with their respective agencies. It had also noted that the management of public service agencies had to consult with the Finance Ministry to ensure that agreements reached were within government guidelines. The Committee had recalled that public service workers and their organizations should be able to participate in designing the overall bargaining framework, which implies in particular that they must have access to all the financial, budgetary and other data enabling them to assess the situation on the basis of the facts. Furthermore, the settlement of disputes arising in connection with the determination of terms and conditions of employment should be sought through negotiations between the parties or through independent and impartial machinery, such as mediation, conciliation and arbitration, established in such a manner as to ensure the confidence of the parties involved in accordance with Article 8 of the Convention.

The Committee notes from the Government's latest report that public servants, through their unions, are involved in negotiations with the Public Service Ministry on all aspects of working conditions and that discussions are presently being held on the formulation of a wages policy.

The Government is requested to specify the machinery established for the settlement of disputes in the public sector, and to supply, with its next report, copies of any valid collective agreements in the public sector.

The Committee also notes the Government's indication that statistics on the number of public employees are not yet available, but that all efforts will be made to compile them for future reports. It hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide in its next report the statistics requested under point V of the report form including, in particular, the number of public employees and of public employees' organizations, both by sectors of activity and by levels of functions.