24% salary increase for Sol workers, minimum wage now $130,000

The General Workers’ Union was able to broker a deal with Sol Guyana Incorporated which sees workers benefitting from as much as a 24 per cent increase.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two parties on Friday with Chief Labour Officer Dhaneshwar Deonarine as witness.
The new Memorandum of Agreement or Collective Labour Agreement will span over two years, effective from January 1, 2022, to and including December 31, 2023. According to the new agreement, workers will benefit from a 24 per cent increase in pay for 2022 and a further 5 per cent from January 1, 2023.
This means that Sol Guyana’s new minimum wage will now be upwards of $130,000 per month, with further elevation from January 1, 2023, to $136,000 per month.
General Manager of Sol Guyana Inc, Earl Carribon stated that the company sees its employees as its most important resource, a key factor that played in the creation of the new agreement.
“We do see our staff as our most important resource. You can have the best trucks, the best storage tanks, the best whatever. If you don’t have competent and happy people, satisfied staff, energised staff working for you, you’re not gonna have a very good business operations. So, it’s from that point-of-view, it’s with that context that we went into this negotiation with the Union,” Carribon said.
He added that the company had given a 10 per cent salary increase to non-unionised workers in 2021 and that it would only be fair to craft an outcome that would benefit both unionised and non-unionised Sol employees.
“In our minds, there’s really no differentiation, whether unionised or non-unionised. Our view is that there should be equal and fair treatment across the board for all staff. So, in our minds, it’s about equity, it’s about making sure that our people are well compensated and fairly compensated and making sure that we’re able to attract and attain the best talent and that we’re rewarding people for the contribution that they play to what we do at Sol Guyana,” the General Manager related.

Timely completion
Meanwhile, President of the Union, Norris Witter lauded Sol Guyana for their willingness to engage and timely completion of the agreement.
“I would wish to commend the management of Sol Guyana limited, and why I say so, it took us less than three meetings, utilising a total, approximately, eight hours to conclude negotiations for a new collective agreement for a two-year period. The management’s attitude towards the negotiations were respectful, positive, and mature,” Witter explained.
He also stated that configurations will be made if inflation exceeds the 5 per cent increase by the end of 2022.
“That 5 per cent is conditional, meaning that it is indexed to cost of living and the inflation. So, if the inflation rate exceeds 5 per cent at the end of 2022, the parties will reengage and review that 5 per cent,” Witter related. (G2)