– 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,Cheap China Jerseys, based on the behaviour of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU).Vieira,Wholesale China Jerseys, in a recent interview,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, 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,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, 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, 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, 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,NFL Jerseys China, 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,” 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,Cheap Jerseys Online, 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, 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,” 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 member