By: Travis Chase | HGP Nightly News |
The parliamentary opposition party We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) has formally moved to increase the private sector minimum wage, citing rising living costs and growing financial pressure on working families across Guyana.
WIN has submitted a motion to the Clerk of the National Assembly calling for the national minimum wage for private sector workers to be raised from $60,000 to $100,000 per month. The motion was filed on December 5 by WIN’s Prime Ministerial Candidate and Member of Parliament Tabitha Sarabo-Halley.
In her submission, Sarabo-Halley urged Parliament to confront what she described as a widening gap between wages and the cost of living, particularly for low-income workers. She argued that the current minimum wage, established under Order 20 of 2022, no longer reflects Guyana’s economic realities.
As part of the proposal, WIN is calling for the relevant Parliamentary Sectoral Committees to examine the social and economic impact of the existing minimum wage, using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as a benchmark for review.
The motion highlights sharp increases in food prices over the past five years, which WIN says have pushed many households closer to the poverty line, despite reductions in fuel costs. According to the government’s mid-year economic report, Guyana’s CPI rose by 2.9 percent in the first half of 2025, driven largely by higher food prices.
While falling fuel prices provided some relief, WIN contends that those savings have been outweighed by rising grocery costs, leaving many families—especially single-parent households—under sustained financial strain.
The party is now urging swift action, maintaining that Parliament has a responsibility to ensure wage policies adequately protect workers’ standards of living in the current economic climate.
