MINISTER of Labour Dr. Nanda K Gopaul said yesterday that employers who want their workers to work beyond eight hours per day are asking for slave labour and

slavery.
He stressed that, in May last, it was the first time in the history of Guyana that a national minimum wage and national working hours was set.
The new wages mean that domestic workers, gardeners, security guards, garment industry workers and others who have been employed for long working hours will have improvements in pay.
Minister Gopaul said: “I want to say to all who are critical of these working hours and minimum wage that this law will not change. Workers are entitled to and should and will benefit from their hard labour.”
He stressed: “Employers must respect the new minimum wage and respect the national working hours.”
He made the remarks while commenting on newspaper reports which said that a “certain” security administrator had threatened to pull his security services from government ministries because of the hike in costs which would be incurred given the new minimum wages.
Chief Executive Officer and founder of RK’s Guyana Security Services, Mr. Roshan Khan, had stated that the implementation of the new minimum wages will lead to several security guards losing their jobs unless government helps the company to cushion higher wages cost associated with the new minimum wage.
Khan had said: “I have to terminate the services of workers because it would be economically nonsensical for me as a businessman to continue working for the rates which existed prior to the new minimum wages.”
The new minimum wages took effect from July 1 last.

The local private sector organisation, the Private Sector Commission had also said recently that while it welcomed the new wages, given the implications for businesses, it wanted to request more time than the deadline of July 1 for its implementation.
In responding to the statements, Minister Gopaul said that a long time ago a prominent lawyer had made a pertinent observation that when businesses are doing extremely well on the backs of the workers they never complain.

The lawyer had told him, he said, that some businesses  never put aside anything for the people; for the workers and sometimes they hide their profits so as not to generate new activity in their plants. But the moment things become bad or prices for their commodities or services drop a little, they start to holler, they start to cry.
He said that some of the responses to the new minimum wages and the national working hours are a very good illustration of what the good lawyer had said.
With specific reference to the security industry, he said that security workers have been  exploited  by unscrupulous employers who harvest millions at their expense, for far too long.

HAD IT GOOD FOR FOUR YEARS
He said that these employers in the sector had enjoyed four years prior to 2012, free of any wages increases.
“For four years they had it good; no increases were announced. We announced an increase in 2012 and they started complaining, another increase in 2013 and now they are quarrelling again.”
“I want to say to them that they must respect the new minimum wages. No longer should our people be made to work twelve hours at flat pay. They must respect the hours because if you want people to work beyond eight hours per day without adequate recompense, you are asking for slave labour and slavery.”
The labour minister added that the government believes in Guyanese and believes in investing in Guyanese and they must be able to enjoy good wages and a healthy way of life.