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Disrespecting young single mothers
Dear Editor,
It was brought to my attention on several occasions of a growing and an absolute disrespect towards our young, mainly African Guyanese single mothers. The situation is so dire that most of these so-called fast food chains and notably the Chinese stores are breaking the laws of Guyana.
Note, have you ever asked if any of these sales girls get a minimum wage, much less holiday pay, not forgetting overtime and to be told if you ever leave here, you don’t have a job tomorrow! Really? In Guyana?
Well I have news for you. This article is to bring to the forefront the many mothers who can’t talk because of fear of losing a daily bread. At one restaurant on Camp Street, the non educated mothers who are given the role of Supervisors have no clue about the laws of Guyana and are telling the workers that they have to get to work 1/2 an hour before time everyday and leaving one hour after their time or else they will be written up and lose their jobs.
There are no lunch breaks and no days off; tell me if this is not insanity.
How on earth can a person work 2 1/2 hours extra everyday along with no days off? How much more can these mothers take?
They are being told boldly that they can go to the Labour Department and complain because the restaurant has people working there and whoever go and complain, they will know who it is.
I sat in this restaurant just last year and heard loudly a supervisor telling another young lady just that. And with tears in her eyes, the young woman said that it is all because she has two children and no father.
I told her no way. She left my company with fear of losing her job and never opened her mouth again.
I took a visit to a lot of these places and was told that they are not voting for PPP or APNU / AFC government because all of them have friends who own the business. Can you imagine this lawlessness is going on in Guyana?
Do you think that any one of us can do that to a Chinese? The other day a Chinese man killed a child and ran. Then his fellow Chinese went to offer money to the family. How barefaced is that? I am so fed up with what I experienced– the cursing and foul language that these Chinese owners and Fast Food owners and Supervisors as though they own the staff.
It’s sad to know that during the just concluded Christmas holiday, the owners never hired temporary staff to offset the hours denied these mothers who wanted to spend time with their children, all because of fear.
Guyana is becoming like Central America. There is cheap labour; people are taken advantage of in their own country. I am so upset right now. With the oil and gas coming soon, I am thinking that things will only get worse because there is no Union that represents these workers and since we are mostly a non-unionized country, there is more to come.
I remember the Bauxite Company in Berbice who took advantage of our Guyanese. Where the hell are all these watchdogs? I guess eating from the fast food places.
I hope that this highlights the craziness that is going on in Guyana and for the government, thousands of votes less. The workers are demanding better conditions failing which the government could lose at the polls.
Concerned Guyanese.
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