SENIOR officials of the Ministry of Labour on Monday met with a delegation from the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean to discuss future collaborations and the way forward regarding the strengthening of the existing relationship.
Following this meeting, the ILO team pledged to assist the ministry in every way possible to protect the well-being and rights of workers, regardless of their profession.
Leading this significant meeting was Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton.
During the meeting, he spoke about the notable progress made by the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Department within the last four years to reduce work-related injuries and fatalities, as well as to maintain a safe and healthy working environment for all Guyanese.
He said that this approach was due to intensified sensitisation sessions which have educated employees in both the public and private sectors, and employers about Chapter 99:06 of the OSH Act, the importance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and accident prevention, amongst other areas.
It was noted that efforts are being made to upgrade Guyana’s OSH Act, specifically in terms of dealing with the growing oil and gas sector so as to ensure the workers’ rights and welfare are secured.
With this in mind, Minister Hamilton stated that he hopes to partner with the relevant stakeholders to develop a strategy which will allow the department to oversee the operations of the facilities in this sector. As such the minister hopes that the ILO will support the ministry in this effort.
It was also mentioned that the National Minimum Wage for private sector employees was increased by 36 per cent from $44,200 to $60,147 in 2022, thus fulfilling the PPP/C administration’s manifesto promise to reduce the cost of living for the people of Guyana.
It was noted that this move followed the previous APNU+ AFC coalition administration’s failure to address this issue with the tripartite committee on salary increases.
This aside, the Department has been able to recover more than $150 million owed to employees for salaries, annual leave, overtime payments and severance pay.
The minister noted that the achievements made by these and other departments were made possible under his directive, and by extension, the Government of Guyana.
Also present at the meeting were Adviser to the Minister of Labour Gillian Burton-Persaud; Chief Labour Officer Dhaneshwar Deonarine; the OSH Department’s consultant Gweneth King; Chief Executive Officer of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) Richard Maughn; Chief Recruitment and Manpower Officer Yolanda Grant; and Chief Co-operatives Development Officer Janaknauth Panchu.
Director of ILO Joni Musabayana; Senior Specialist for Employers’ Activities Maria Victoria Giulietti; Specialist for Workers’ Activities Vera Guseva, and Senior Programme Officer Ingerlyn Caines-Francis, were the ILO representatives present at the meeting.