National minimum wage increase: Private Sector ready but expired Tripartite Committee stalling finalisation – Labour Minister

With the process for increasing the national minimum wage ongoing since 2019, Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton is hoping to have all the legal arrangements finalised before the end of this year especially since officials in the Private Sector have unofficially indicated their readiness to raise employees’ salaries to $60,000.

Shortly after taking office last year, Minister Hamilton had announced the increase in the Private Sector minimum wage. However, while an order to this effect was made, there was no timeline for its enforcement. This was postponed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has had on businesses.
But now that it has been a year and the country has been on the path to recovery from the pandemic, the Labour Minister has been planning to reengage the Private Sector on enforcing the increases.
In fact, only last month, he told <<<Guyana Times>>> that he would be meeting with the National Tripartite Committee, which comprises the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the labour movement representatives, to finalise the enforcement of an increase in the minimum wage from $44,200 to $60,000 for Private Sector workers.
“Over the last two weeks or so, I have had unofficial conversations or interactions with Private Sector members, senior Private Sector Commission people, who have said to me that the Private Sector is at the position where they’ve agreed that this matter can be concluded,” the Minister told this newspaper on Wednesday.
However, he explained that while he was eager to officially finalise the process, they have encountered an issue, whereby the life of the Tripartite Committee has expired.
“The Chief Labour Officer (Dhaneshwar Deonarine) was attempting to have the meeting convene, when it was recognised that the life of the Tripartite Committee came to an end couple weeks ago. So, I instructed him to write the parties indicating to them that I want to re-establish the committee, and secondly, to find out from them whether the same nominees that they had on the previous committee will be their representatives. If not, they could propose new nominees. So, we’re waiting on that and once that has happened, I will convene a meeting of the Tripartite Committee to discuss the matter,” the Labour Minister stated.
Hamilton could not say how long it would take for the Tripartite Committee to be reconstituted, but reiterated that the Chief Labour Officer has already written to the various entities about nominating their representatives.
According to the Labour Minister, he hopes that everybody treats the matter expeditiously so that the new Committee can meet before Christmas so that it can conclude this matter.
“I’m delighted to hear the news coming out of the Private Sector, even though unofficial, and just to make the point that, that was one of the major issues that I, as Minister, I have struggled with for the period. I have been able to successfully do several things including having several collective legal agreements that were languishing for years to conclude among employers and unions… I think if all of this is concluded, then I would say we’ve had a good year, because this is the only major matter that I have not been able to conclude.”
Last month when Government announced a seven per cent retroactive salary increase for all public sector workers, it sparked conversations about pay in the Private Sector. In fact, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) had called on private businesses to follow suit in order to attract and retain their workforce.
The public sector minimum wage currently stands at $70,000. The Private Sector’s minimum wage was last increased in 2017 from an hourly rate of $202 to $255, taking the monthly wage from $35,000 to $44,200.
According to the Labour Minister, the increase to $60,000 would only impact about 10 per cent Of Private Sector workers, who are currently being paid below that wage level.
Nevertheless, Minister Hamilton expressed hope that it does not take this long again before the minimum wage for Private Sector workers is increased again.
“Presently, the Private Sector minimum wage is about $44,000…and so if … the minimum wage goes to $60,000…it will be more than what they presently can get. Importantly, let me say this, as I understand from the Private Sector, this increase, whenever it comes, will only be affecting about 10 per cent of employees in the Private Sector because the Private Sector, they have said to me that 90 per cent of the employees in the Private Sector, they work for more than $60,000 a month,” the Labour Minister explained.
He added that “of course, this will not affect the public sector because the Government long time ago increased the minimum in Government services to $70,000…”
According to the Labour Minister, this increase will, nonetheless, bring significant benefits to those persons who will see a hike in their salaries. (G8)