Better salaries, more benefits guaranteed for all workers

- President Ali affirms; says more opportunities for work being created in all sectors

By Trina Williams

NUMEROUS persons in Guyana are opting for temporary employment despite multiple long-term job openings here. This is due to the fact that people no longer place much value on work; thus, it is crucial to rekindle their understanding of these ideas.

This was according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali while delivering his address at the Twelfth Subregional ILO Meeting of Caribbean Labour Ministers opening at the Guyana Marriot Hotel on Tuesday.

“Social justice is not about creating the framework for existing workers alone. It is about how globally we are intaking collective responsibility for the workforce now and in the future,” the President said, adding that climate financ- ing, concessional financing, grants and even food security are facing significant hits.

Moreover, President Ali then asked the dignitaries how the Caribbean community could combat these challenges. He stated: “Many of them [the citizens] prefer to be temporary workers because we have built a culture in the region that needs to change.”

He said, "Recruiters and I can give you their experience here in Guyana. If you drive around, you will see vacancies everywhere for people by construction companies. Every day we have projects held up because they cannot find people.

Government implementation is affected, private sector delivery is affected…”

Stressing that the labour framework within the Caribbean region needs to be changed, the President said that Guyana has already taken steps to make this happen. He voiced that the Government of Guyana is working towards making tertiary education free, expanding the technical vocational education training and building an international hospitality centre training institute.

He said, “We [the Government of Guyana] are now providing the facilities and the technology for all our teachers to become trained teachers in the next three years. Every single teacher in Guyana will be a trained teacher. Tremendous investment, but necessary investment. We are building a framework of benefits and salary that allow us to retain our workers.”

He then went on to remark: “As the world faces its own labour challenge, we in the Caribbean find ourselves in a position that we are investing for those who can pay higher,” adding that the Caribbean, as a result of the pandemic, has now become a “recruitment ground,” even though many of the nations invest their public resources to train their citizens.

“I see every single day special migration programmes and policies developed to target the highly skilled workers of our region. We cannot afford the type of salaries that will keep them,” he disclosed.

The President then posed the question of how social justice interplays with all of this, to which he told the audience: “Social justice is not only about the country's responsibility, it's about the world's responsibility. It's about the responsibility of the citizens to themselves.”

- plans in place to deploy more women into workforce

PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan

Ali says eliminating the stereotype that women are just caregivers is on top of Guyana’s agenda and should be for the entire Caribbean.

In Guyana, the government is empowering women by supporting and providing them with the resources they need to start their businesses and by fostering an amiable and conducive work environment for them.

Also, women are also being granted the opportunity to undergo Information and Communications Technology (ICT) training.

The President made these remarks while delivering his address at Tuesday's opening of the 12th Subregional ILO Meeting of Caribbean Labour Ministers at the Guyana Marriott Hotel.

According to him: “We are aggressively building out call centres shells in every single region and seeking international players to come in and to use those skills to create employment,” adding that these are being constructed as a means of enticing businesses, which will, in turn, employ thousands of women who are not currently in the workforce, boost household incomes, and increase disposable money.

He also emphasised the need for specific questions to be addressed, such as how the Caribbean community should use its platform to develop a shared opportunity through innovation and technology, employ women in the workforce, and increase household incomes.

The President noted that the Caribbean region “has the capacity and capability in providing a platform through which we can offer global education services in key areas like tourism.”

Furthermore, touching on the importance of not only strengthening democratic institutions, but also the rule of law, the Head of State said that these components are key in enabling people to live in a free, open, and democratic society, one driven by the free expression of the will of the people.

On the other hand, in providing a futuristic Guyana, he said: “We're building sports facilities, smart hubs, Internet hubs in the vast hinterland of our country, so that people, every single person, will have access to education and training opportunities.”

Apart from this, immense work is being placed into the ‘25 by 2025’ goal and in ensuring food security, the G overnment of Guyana is investing in young people and women to be part of this agenda.

According to the President: "These con- ferences must not be bound only by externalities. These conferences must be shaped by your own realities. We must pose the questions, and we must advance our agenda in the region. In this region, we, too, have priorities. We, too, have an agenda. We, too, have citizens. We, too, have realities. We, too, have circumstances,” he asserted, explaining that it is time for the Caribbean to utilize these forums to advance their priorities and causes.