Earning less than the minimum wage

Nov 29, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
Kindly permit me space in the letter column of your highly read newspaper to highlight our grave plight and suffering as security guards. We are employed in the private security service and working to protect Government and state properties along with their workers the public servants among whom are the maids and sweeper cleaners.
In 2013, the former PPP/C Administration had raised the national minimum wage/salaries to the sum of $35,000 per month. This was published in the National Minimum Wages/Salaries Act.
After the APNU/AFC took over the administration of governance, it raised the national minimum wages/salaries for public servants to $50,000 per month and again in this year it has raised the minimum wages/salaries for public servant to $60,000 per month payable from January 1, 2017.
In October 2016, as appeared in the headline on the Guyana Chronicle caption Higher Wages, Cabinet Clears new minimum wage for private sector and again on November 24, under the head line caption, New minimum Wage, it was stated that the new minimum wage/salary to be paid to private sector workers in the sum of $40,000 payable from January 1, 2017.
It is October 21, one year since the order was made by Cabinet and we in the security service are still waiting for the increase to be honoured by the private security service.
In August, Minister Keith Scott called on the private security service at a security service conference to honour and pay to the security guards the new minimum wage for private sector workers. His call has fallen on deaf ears, and we are still suffering hoping Minster Keith Scott will follow up and see to it that we get what we deserve as we are all workers and deserve better wages.
R. Kumar
Suffering security guard

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