| Head of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Norris Witter, has said, “As a labour union, we can never be satisfied with any wage, minimum or otherwise, that does not reflect the reality in terms of the cost of living.”GTUC President Norris WitterHowever, he has applauded the government for making the first step toward addressing the minimum wage issue.Witter, at a press briefing last Friday, said that the minimum wage has not been attended to for more than two decades. He said that the need to have something in place, even if not adequate, to demonstrate some willingness on the part of the Government to address the question of an appropriate minimum wage was needed.Witter said that although the wage is not appropriate, the minimum wage is pegged to a public service minimum wage which was felt to be a good beginning.Witter said that the idea of the minimum wage was not totally at the goodwill of the government. The GTUC head told reporters, “While one may get the impression reading from the media that the national minimum wage is purely from the good intent of the government , it is not so.”He charged that the minimum wage was determined by the National tripartite Committee, which has government representation, the employer’s organization and the Labour Ministry. He said that the implementation was a recommendation coming from the committee to the Labour Ministry, which was subsequently tendered to Cabinet for its approval.“So it is not correct to say that the national minimum wage was purely as a result of the Government’s initiative, but as a consequence of tripartite discussions, deliberations and recommendations,Carlos Zambrano Cubs Jersey,” Witter corrected.The government earlier this month announced that it was proceeding with a plan to institute a national minimum wage. It was said that the introduction of a national minimum wage could put an end to underpayment across all sectors and lessen complaints of exploitation by employers.Apart from the established minimum wage of $35,Todd Frazier White Sox Jersey,000 for public sector workers,Clay Buchholz Red Sox Jersey, the government,Kosuke Fukudome Cubs Jersey, through the Ministry of Labour, would periodically dictate what the minimum wage for certain categories of workers in the private sector, but now, it was highlighted, everyone would be covered.“This initiative is an improvement; it is the ultimate improvement that binds employers across the scale to subscribe to a minimum wage. No employee would earn less than,John Lackey Cubs Jersey, no employee,Ron Santo Cubs Jersey, not just sectors but no employee,” Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon had stated.It was noted that a high level team of Government Ministers would be tasked with rolling out the initiative, including holding consultations so that all parties would buy into the initiative.No deadline has however been set for the date the new regime would be put in place. |
