Ignoring that it was his administration which failed to increase the national minimum wage to $60,000, Opposition lawmaker Khemraj Ramjattan has recommended that it now be increased to $100,000 a month.
Kickstarting the Budget 2022 debates today, Ramjattan – a former minister under the APNU+AFC government – lamented that there is no plan in place to increase the country’s minimum wage.
Interestingly, it was Ramjattan’s administration that failed to pass the order to increase the national minimum wage to $60,000 from $44,200 for a 40-hour work week.
This was a move in the making since 2019 and to date, it has not been finalised. The last update was provided in December 2021 by Labour Minister under the new PPP/C Administration, Joseph Hamilton who noted that the private sector has unofficially confirmed its readiness to approve the increase.
Even with this matter yet to be concluded, Ramjattan believes the increase should move to $100,000.
“I am requesting here, that we do a minimum wage that is $100,000 across the board,” he expressed.
Ramjattan outlined that an average person’s monthly expenses surpass $100,000, taking into considering the rising food prices, rent/mortgage payment/home maintenance, and utilities.
Though the national minimum wage is currently at $44,200, workers in the public sector are paid a minimum of $70,000. Additionally, the Labour Minister had explained that only an estimated 10% of private sector workers are paid the national minimum wage.
During his interview with this publication in December, Minister Hamilton had also expressed hope that it does not take this long again before the minimum wage is increased again.
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.
