Private sector wage earners, particularly those in factories and urban commercial enterprises face unacceptable levels of exploitation resulting from employers’ preoccupation with profit and “a complete lack of concern” with the welfare of their workers.
“That, unfortunately, is the way it is, not only here in Guyana but elsewhere in the Caribbean and no attention is being paid to the problem. Often there are issues that have to do with conditions of work, health and safety, hours of work and wages and salaries which are simply allowed to fall by the wayside,” General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress Lincoln Lewis told Stabroek Business in an interview earlier this week.
“It’s all about maximizing profit. You find that the downtown commercial houses tend to pay their workers the minimum wage and no more. Most of these workers are women; many of them