Chief Labour Officer Dhaneshwar Deonarine has been instructed to convene a meeting with National Tripartite Committee (NTC) to resume discussions on the national minimum wage, Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton has said.
Hamilton, who told Stabroek News that the meeting is scheduled to take place within the next two weeks, said he believes that the private sector is in a better position to agree to the proposed sum of $60,000 per month. The current national minimum wage is $44,200.
He stated that a year ago, the private sector was resistant as it cited the negative impacts of COVID-19 on business, with which he empathised. However, with the situation changed and businesses operating as per norm, he believes they can afford an increase in the minimum wage.
Noting that many businesses actually pay far more than the proposed figure, the minister stressed that it is important for it to be adopted and documented.
“…Hotels are reopened, bars are operating, the curfew has been [relaxed] and workers are not being asked to stay home, so it suggests that they are doing better,” he observed.
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), in a statement on Thursday, called for an adjustment of the national minimum wage.
“At its current level, the national minimum wage is really a pauperization wage and we again, as we have several times before, urge the authorities to address in a meaningful manner the long-outstanding issue. Certainly, there is urgent need for an adjustment,” the union said.
FITUG said the recently announced increase approved by government for the public sector creates a further disparity between the national and public sector minimum wages by $30,700 per month.
It pointed out that a person earning the national minimum wage must work some two months before they earn what their counterparts in the public sector earn.
While noting that some businesses pay higher than the current minimum wage, it noted that many “are rigidly adhering to the basement pay level.”
The trade union body called on the private sector to take example from the government and award their employees no lesser than a 7% pay rise. “It is our considered view that it allows private businesses to continue to attract and retain skills to sustain their operations while seeking to alleviate some of the burdens their employees are fetching currently,” it said.
FITUG also urged business entities not to ignore its calls as some would have in the past. “We have received information that some businesses have hardly sought to address their employees’ plight while in other cases have ignored it altogether,” it said.
Under the APNU+AFC government, the National Tripartite Committee in April 2019 had unanimously approved an increase to $60,000 monthly. However, it was never implemented.
FITUG asserts that it must be recognised that even the approved $60,000 is not sufficient, but rather, needed to close the already wide economic gap that is steadily growing.
