– Minister Hamilton tells oil companies

THE Ministry of Labour is strongly advocating for locals working in the oil-and-gas sector to receive wages that are on par with their foreign counterparts.
Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton said he made this position clear to the heads of the major oil companies operating in Guyana during recent engagements. Those companies include ExxonMobil, Tullow Oil, and Schlumberger.

The minister said he is of the belief that locals in the oil-and-gas sector, when functioning in the same capacity as foreigners, should be paid the same wages, as they would be carrying out the same functions.

“In my engagement with the oil companies, I was clear as crystal, making two points to them. One, equal pay must be for equal work; if you bring in expatriates to do work, once they are doing the same job like a Guyanese, the Guyanese must be paid the same wages like them. We cannot have you paying five and ten times more to an expatriate than a Guyanese,” the Labour Minister said.

Minister Hamilton further stated that while in engagement with the heads of the oil-and-gas companies, he also made it clear that the organisations must be open to their employees joining or forming workers representative organisations. He added that as a worker of any organisation, persons should always be able to be heard and represented.
“The issue of the rights of workers to form workers representative organisations, trade unions, or to join unions is non-negotiable, and I so informed the people in the oil-and-gas industry. And as I continue to engage the rest, that’s the same point I will make clear to them,” he said.

The minister stated that presently, representation and unions is a necessity in the oil-and-gas sector. He stated that just recently, he had been in contact with persons from one of the offshore facilities, and has been briefed on the extensive working hours employees are forced to undertake.

“I have reports from people who work on these platforms; just this morning, a person who works on one of these platforms was communicating with me about an issue that needs to be investigated about their work time. They have to work 12 hours a day; that is not inclusive of overtime,” Minister Hamilton explained.
Minister Hamilton further highlighted that the Ministry is in the process of training Labour Officers who will be sent to the offshore facilities. He explained that for some time, the Labour Ministry has been without enough trained persons to monitor the operations of offshore companies.

“You would recognise that presently, we have just land labour officers and land OSH officers. We are now in the process of training persons who can properly go out there; 200 miles or 120 miles, to pay attention to these matters. Because, if people are not trained what to look for, sending them out there will waste time, unless they know what to look for,” Minister Hamilton said.

The ministry, according to Minister Hamilton, is committed to ensuring that all Guyanese have a fair and equitable working environment that is beneficial to them.