Despite its long and impressive history of trade unionism and its socialist assumptions, as a country we have failed to provide our workers with what could be considered a living wage. Tracking this to the problems of colonialism can hardly help when Guyana is now facing exploitative capitalism. It is a sad reflection that the public sector minimum wage of $ 70,000 a month is 59% higher than that applicable in the private sector which calls itself a growth engine. It is unlikely that anyone can live a decent life (APNU + AFC) or enjoy prosperity (PPP / C) with such a starving wage and yet we do nothing about it.
It is a true stain that any Government would tolerate this position and sad that the Budget Speech was completely silent on the issue, especially as an increase in the minimum wage was a Labor submission in the recent consultation. The situation is not only heartless but also messy and reflects insensitivity and total ignorance of what is described as the national Minimum Wage.
In 2013, completely oblivious to the labor laws, the then Labor Minister overturned the minimum wage system. No national minimum wage exists in Guyana. Instead, minimum wage rates are set through Minimum Wage Orders made under the Labor Act and the Wages Council Act. These laws provide that where rates are not set by minimum wage orders, wages may be agreed by individual or collective agreement.
During the latest attempt to remedy this embarrassment, the APNU / AFC government set up a tripartite committee with representatives from the Ministry of Labor, the Private Sector, and Trade Union bodies negotiating a higher minimum wage. The current Labor Minister would later inform that the then tripartite committee had proposed $ 60,000 as the new private sector minimum wage. However, he said meetings of that committee had been postponed and the PPP / C Administration decided to re-establish a new committee that will immediately continue the discussion on the proposed $ 60,000 increase.
The private sector almost objected, claiming that the sector lacked the ability to withstand an increase in the minimum wage. On the other hand, the union representing public sector workers supported the cause of private sector workers, arguing that despite the slowdown of Covid-19, a minimum wage in the private sector should be brought from a minimum wage of $ 60,000 a month into law. Unsurprisingly, the PPP / C Labor Minister has been quiet ever since.
The case for a minimum wage is economic as well as social. The private sector argues that an increase in the minimum wage can hurt the very people who are intended to help. Although such an argument cannot be rejected, it should be challenged. More money in the hands of the lower income people will go back to the exact economy to expand business and increase employment. But this has to be an ethical issue, a human right issue.
The Government must stand on this issue and not be shaken or bullied by private sector spokespeople. If as the President pointed out in defense of the oil companies, workers are also entitled to a fair return on their labor.