–says Minister Hamilton

MINISTER of Labour, Joseph Hamilton on Tuesday reaffirmed that an increase in the minimum wage for private sector employees to $60,000 is still guaranteed, notwithstanding the deadline for implementation being delayed to cater for the challenges the sector has faced over the past year.
Minister Hamilton reaffirmed the government’s position during a meeting at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), where he met with the Board of Directors and management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to address issues facing employees of the corporation.
The minister, in addressing those gathered at the meeting, said he was surprised to learn that GuySuCo pays its employees based on the private sector’s minimum wage of $44,200 and not that of the public sector which is $70,000.

In responding to the minister, GuySuCo representatives pondered aloud whether the Corporation can manage a mandatory salary increase. But Minister Hamilton reminded the stakeholders that an increase in the private sector’s minimum wage is not a question of “if,” but rather a matter of “when”.
“The order will be issued,” Minister Hamilton said, adding: “What I have not done is put a timeline on the order, because of all the other things I have to pay attention to. But it will come; it is an agreed position.” While his position is firm, the minister said that he is cognisant and considerate of the economic hardships the private sector continues to face, in light of the COVID-19 situation, and has many times found himself at loggerheads with both the employee unions and the private sector businessowners over it.

“Representatives of the employees are saying issue the order; the private sector, they are saying you have to take into consideration the effects of COVID. I’ve taken a lot of licks in the battle from all sides. I have to take those two positions, and do what is best for everybody,” Minister Hamilton related.
He defended his decision to push back the signing of the order to move ahead with the increase, noting that if businesses find it hard to pay the new increase, it could lead to downsizing and cut-backs on employment to accommodate the increased overhead expense.
In his view, there is yet hope on the horizon, as the COVID-19 vaccination programme being coordinated by the Ministry of Health and a possible post-COVID-19 era could push forward the signing of the order.

“The fact that the government has rolled out the vaccination; that might help me very shortly to make a decision on the matter,” Minister Hamilton said.
It was in 2019 that a tripartite committee with representatives from the trade union, the private sector, and the Ministry of Labour, met and first agreed to an increase in the minimum wage to $60,000. However, the necessary order to concretise the agreement was never signed by the then Minister of Labour.
The private sector’s minimum wage has not been increased since 2017, when it was raised from an hourly rate of $202 to $255, taking it from $35,000 to $44,200.