This instrument, the national Minimum Rate of Payment for Workers shall be Le 500, 000, 00 and will come into operation on the 1st day of January 2015.
In an exclusive interview with the chairman for the Parliamentary Committee on Labour and Industrial Relations, Hon. Francis Amara Konuwa, he said they supported the document and commended the Ministry for putting it together.
The MP who is representing Constituency 014 in the Kenema District, made this comment after the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Dr. Matthew M. Teambo tabled the statutory instrument NO.6 OF 2014 on the regulation of wages and industrial relations Act , of 1971 {Act No.18 of 1971.
The chairman recalled that last year his committee visited almost all private sector companies in the country and discovered that the local staff were less paid and recommended to government for further actions to salvage such appalling situation and improve the standard of living.
He noted that due to the pro-activeness of the leadership of Parliament and the ministry in one of their consultative meetings, they agreed on the said amount for the good of the country.
Hon. Konuwa heaped praised on Parliament and the Labour Congress for their contributions during the process to enable them actualized the minimum wages for the private sector.
The chairman noted that the minimum wages for the private sector would help the workers to actualize their dreams and positively contribute to national development.
The chairman said that he was optimistic that Parliament would implement and effectively monitor the implementation process including the Ministry of Labour to ensure that government achieve it agenda for prosperity for all and sundry.
He admonished the private sector also to comply with the instrument and work together with government for the development of the country.
The Parliamentarian noted that the committee could now concentrate on the Ministry of Labour and the labour related issues and to review the other labour laws which were almost absolute.
