Private sector employees are deserving of a long overdue wage increase despite the COVID-19 slowdown according to the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) which said that the mooted $60,000 per month minimum should be met.
A release yesterday from the GPSU noted that a tripartite committee with representatives from the Ministry of Labour, the Private Sector, and Trade Union bodies negotiated that the private sector workers be given an increase in salary.
According to the GPSU, the private sector minimum wage has not been increased since 2017, when it was raised from an hourly rate of $202 to $255, and thus the monthly salary moved from $35,000 to $44,200 for a 40-hour week. It was also noted that the Minister of Labour had recently announced that the private sector wage would now be increased to a monthly rate of $60,000.
However, in spite of the recommendation, the GPSU said that the Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Nicholas Boyer, in a release shortly after, voiced the private sector’s unwillingness to accommodate any minimum wage increase. This especially in view of the nine-month COVID-19 economic downturn.
The Union in turn acknowledged that the economic situation was indeed “tenuous”, but urged employers in the private sector to “make every effort to recognize the meagre wages paid to private sector employees and endeavour to lift these employees out of the suffering by implementing the increase.” It also contended that “the increase is well deserved and should have been implemented years ago.”
It was pointed out by the GPSU that many private sector workers enjoy very limited autonomy and described them as “at will” employees who face pressure to ensure their employers turn a profit. It added that some employers operate without conscience and freely access a number of relief measures, tax incentives and exemptions.
The Union therefore contends that it “behooves” every private sector employer to treat employees “with the dignity they deserve” by firstly paying a living wage – using the monthly increase of $60, 000 as a benchmark or starting point – and not view this as an economic “hindrance”.
