By Leonard GildarieAs I grow older, I worry more and more about my pension. I see too many Guyanese barely eking out a living,Wholesale China Jerseys, depending on public assistance, old age and NIS pension and if they are lucky state pension and something from a private insurance.Not many persons work for the state so no pension from that. Public assistance is not permanent and I will bet more than 90 percent of Guyana does not have private insurance.I am preparing to find something that will have to supplement my pension when I retire. It would be impossible to live on what I am projecting to receive.I take my hat off to our senior citizens who have to plant their gardens or depend on irregular handouts from relatives to make ends meet. My GPL bill averages $14,000 and internet and cable $20,000. See where I am heading with this? What exactly are our pensioners receiving?Leanard GildarieIt is not an easy thing. I wonder how politicians can stand up with a straight face and say that they are doing something good. While our budget is limited in its capacity, the reality is that many of our seniors are finding it difficult.It is a story that is slipping through the cracks. A vast majority of them have no choice but to depend on their families for help.So it was with great anger I read a release from the Government last week on how one call centre in Linden has sent home about 90 staffers.I got worried. Linden is going through its share of problems and call ill-afford to have so many of its residents jobless.Bosai is facing tough times selling its bauxite and has scaled down operations. The gold fields and logging which has managed to employ so many is also not doing well.Yet this one call centre sent home its staffers and reportedly told them to go to Government for their severance pay.The company’s officials later told Minister Simona Broomes, who is charged with labour, that they made a mistake.Chairman of Region 10, Rennis Morian, urged for the building to be locked down and the managers, reportedly from St. Kitts, be blocked from leaving Guyana.Guyana urgently needs to review its labour laws.Labour officials said that NIS and tax contributions were deducted but not remitted to the relevant entities.It could not have been overnight that the call centre,Wholesale Jerseys China, Toucan Connections, knew it was in financial trouble.You can’t just close doors and send workers home. There are labour requirements that have to be met.I understand arguments that some businesses for one reason or the other will close. That is how the world works. But laws also allow the workers some rights too. There is an entire Government department that looks after this.According to the Government statement, the Ministry intends to take the company to court for breaches of the labour laws, under the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act, Chapter 99:08-Laws of Guyana.According to the act, employees should be consulted, “as early as possible but no later than one month from the date of existence…with recognized trade unions,Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic, or if none exists, the employees or the employees’ representatives and the Chief Labour Officer, on the possible measures that could be taken to avert or mitigate the adverse effects of such circumstances,Cheap Jerseys, in relation to employment generally and employees concerned.”Any employer who contravenes any of the provisions of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of $20,000 and imprisonment of three months.This last sentence is what has me upset. I didn’t see right- $20,000???How many companies,Cheap MLB Jerseys China, including security firms, do we know about that take NIS and taxes from workers and fail to remit same?How many factories and work places do we know that can be likened to slave camps?I can go on and on.What can be agreed on is that our laws need revamping. I heard a large drug bust could see a convicted person fined $10,000 or three times the value of the seized drug.In this day and age where the laws should be modern, we have these little things that stop our developmental strides.There is significant debate over the sacking of contract workers,China Jerseys, public servants and all kinds of things. There is little clarity and from the look of things, lots of protection for workers…but a lack of will, and loopholes in the law that allow employers to act with impunity is proving problematic.Our labour laws, I humbly suggest, should be reviewed and updated to reflect best practices in other developed countries.