Seven months after the National Tripartite Committee (NTC) unanimously approved a minimum wage increase from $42,400 to $60,000, the body is yet to implement that change. This comes as a result of the body not meeting to advance the agreed-upon increase, according to the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG).
At the last meeting held on April 03, 2019, which was attended by representatives from all the constituents, the Committee considered an improvement in the National Minimum Wage. The National Minimum Wage, which was implemented in 2013, was increased for the first time at the beginning of 2017 to $42,400 per month. It was at that meeting, that the proposal to increase the minimum wage to $60,000 per month was unanimously approved by the Committee.
According to FITUG, the improvement sought to bring the relationship between the national minimum wage and the public sector minimum wage back into sync. When the national minimum wage was implemented in 2013, it represented 89% of the then public sector minimum. Currently, the national minimum wage is just 66% of the public sector minimum.
FITUG posited that this percentage is likely to fall further as the government intends to give an increase to state employees in the new budget.
The Federation said that it has, over the last few months, been eagerly anticipating the convening of the meeting to receive an official explanation regarding the, so far, non-implementation of the Committee’s decision.
“In the meantime, we have heard murmurs that some are averse to any improvement in pay to our nation’s lowest-paid. If what we have heard is indeed true then it possibly explains the apparent non-convening of a meeting. The FITUG is at a loss as to why is it that the Government, seemingly, doesn’t want our country’s workers to benefit from a rise in pay. Certainly, while the Administration has seen the necessity to improve the lot of its employees it has an equal concern to ensure that all workers rise together,” the union bloc stated.
At this time, the Federation said that it looks to the implementation of the approved decision, as the nation’s workers are “more than deserving” and the improvement would bring about much-deserved relief to the working-class.
The NTC includes representatives of the Government, the employers and the labour movement. The Committee, which would usually meet monthly, that is chaired by Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally. The NTC is charged to consider a wide range of matters such as enactment and amendment of Labour legislation and regulations, monitoring of the progress of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP); examining the labour relations situation in the country; promotion of educational activities; among other things. The Committee, over the years, has received the support of the ILO to improve its work and functioning.
