School cleaners may soon be paid a minimum wage if President Bharrat Jagdeo’s words still have any weight after Monday’s elections.
The head of state reportedly made the promise at a lunch-time protest by cleaners outside the Office of the President (OP), on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, to press for higher wages given the steep cost of living.
The school custodians from various secondary schools in the city receive a salary of $18,000 per month and decided to show yesterday that they had had enough.
After the protest, a meeting was arranged with President Jagdeo for 2pm yesterday afternoon. At approximately 4pm, the women left OP in smiles and explained that they were promised by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon that since the president will no longer be serving in his capacity from Monday, that he will make arrangements to have their salaries adjusted to at least that of the minimum wage.
Debra Ann Lewis, representative of the group and sweeper cleaner at the Dolphin Secondary school, told Stabroek News that she was the only cleaner at the school which has a population of over 600 students. The woman produced a pay slip which revealed that her net salary was less that $18,000 per month.
She also produced a Guyana Power and Light Bill which states that she pays nearly $9,000 for the month’s consumption of power. Providing for a family coupled with paying bills, she said, is overwhelming and she only survives because of remittances from relatives overseas. “Ow look at this, in this hard, hard time people still wukking for these lil ravellings. What can this do? We write and write about this but still nothing,” she said.
Another cleaner Yonette Williams informed that she works for $152 per hour and has to remain at the school from 9am -3pm on schooldays. However she was still classified as a part time sweeper cleaner and as a result she is not paid on holidays, weekends or when school is closed. She said to her it seems that it was most unreasonable, given not only the tedious work of cleaning school bathrooms but having to endure the dust produced on a daily basis.
After the meeting, the women informed that Jagdeo promised that although he demits office in days, he would remind Dr. Luncheon to look into their plight and have corrective measures put in place. The women said that as public servants receive retroactive salaries in time for Christmas next month, they too hope that “a reasonable” salary will be awarded to them.
