Declaring that his government is ”deeply rooted” in the working class, President Irfaan Ali yesterday asserted that it had created more 50,000 new jobs since August 2020.
The creation of 50,000 jobs had been a manifesto promise of the PPP/C in 2020 but there has been no known compilation of the amount of jobs created, in which sectors or any independent review of these figures.
In the aftermath of a bruising battle with the teachers union which saw a four-week strike and charges that the government was unconstitutionally refusing to hold collective bargaining talks, Ali yesterday played up the benefits accorded to workers.
He said that his government had:
paid cumulative across-the-board salary increases of more than 23% to public servants;
● adjusted salaries upwards for 5,000 healthcare workers and 9,000 members of the Disciplined Services;
● increased allowances and duty-free concessions and corrected anomalies in the wages and salaries of teachers;
● increased the monthly income tax threshold to G$100,000;
● increased allocations to the education sector, expanded the school feeding programme, provided more than 21,000 scholarships under the Guyana Academy of Online Learning, of which 20% have gone to teachers;
● distributed more than 30,000 house lots;
● initiated a part-time jobs programme that is placing incomes into the hands of 15,000 workers.
He asserted that all of these measures are placing billions of dollars in disposable income in the hands of workers, empowering them and enhancing the well-being of their families.
The President said that his government remains committed to defending the rights of workers and enhancing their well-being and welfare.
“We recognise that the improvement of living and working conditions is fundamental to economic prosperity and social justice. However, it is crucial to also appreciate that the well-being of workers extends beyond their pay packages. The well-being of workers involves respecting their dignity and their work. True dignity for workers encompasses access to quality education, healthcare, affordable housing, retirement benefits, and social protections for the vulnerable among us.
“As a government, we are seized of the realisation that it is incumbent upon us to ensure that workers are afforded opportunities for personal and professional growth, as well as the means to lead fulfilling lives”, Ali stated.
He called on workers to consider the broader benefits being afforded to them and their families, beyond mere financial compensation.
