Region Ten school cleaners face half-month wages in key ‘back to school’ period

Last Tuesday, not for the first time, a group of women from parts of Region Ten including Linden and areas of the Berbice River, sought to bring air their grievances through this newspaper.

The women, who are designated Sweeper/Cleaners, have only been paid for half the month, ostensibly because with schools closed for the holiday period, they would not have put in a full month’s work. However, these women, many of them single parents, have school-aged children for whom they have to provide the necessities with which to start the new school year. The half-month pay has therefore placed them in dire straits.

All told, they number around 300. They are, in their own right, public servants though if you judge by their circumstances, you might think otherwise.

They are responsible for ensuring that schools in the region are kept in good order and their pay and conditions of work are the responsibility of the Regional Administration. They are members of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and union President Patrick Yarde has told this newspaper that the plight of these public servants is uppermost in the mind of the organization.