9% to 15% salary increases for Berbice Bridge workers

Workers of the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) will benefit from salary increases between nine percent and 15 percent, retroactive to January 1, 2022.

The agreement for the salary increases was reached during negotiations between the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the BCCI on November 16, 2022.

Additionally, the parties agreed to revise the workers’ salary scales, a press release from GAWU on Friday noted.

“Those workers whose earnings fall below the new scales will be brought up to the new minimum of the scale. This would see such workers receiving in excess of 15 percent pay increase,” the release stated.

Apart from wages, the GAWU and the BBCI have agreed that all allowances would be increased by nine percent across the board.

Through the agreement reached, arrangements regarding the scheduling of staff engaged in the retraction of the bridge on weekends and holidays were clarified and addressed.

The issue of year-end bonus was also addressed during the negotiations as well.

“The workers and the Union are pleased that we were able to reach agreement at the bilateral level. The discussions, we believe, were cordial, respectful and frank and assisted in reaching a speedy conclusion,” the release noted.