“We are getting minimum wage under stressful conditions”

N.Y.-based Guyanese join other minorities to rally for better pay and working conditions

Several New York –based Guyanese joined other workers to protest the working conditions at their job sites in Queens last Friday, and again on Tuesday. They complained of working for minimum wages under very stressful conditions, and are demanding wage increases as well as better working conditions.
Speaking to reporters, Samul McCalman, a Guyanese, said he only gets a four or five minute break during his shift that normally runs from 07:30h to 15:00h. He said that although he and his wife work full-time and are grateful for being employed, his low income makes it difficult to make ends meet on his minimum wage. McCalman has only lived in the U.S. for about 20 months.
Minimum wagers earn US$7.25 per hour and some of them earn even less off the book. The protesters moved down Jamaica Avenue, starting at Parsons Boulevard, and ending at the Jamaica LIRR station, where the AirTrain makes berth.
The rally at the AirTrain site was to show solidarity for airport workers who are underpaid by companies which are contracted with JFK and LaGuardia.
The companies earn huge profits and pay their workers low wages. Many Guyanese work at the airports providing low skill labour.
The protesters complained about the disparity and income inequality for low-wage workers as opposed to those who earn higher wages and salaries. The protesters said they want higher wages so they can have better living conditions. One protester said: “You deserve to be able to eat; you deserve to be able to pay your rent.”
The protesters chanted: “Community need over corporate greed”, and “Hey, hey, JFK – give your workers better pay, affordable wages, not poverty wages”.
A recent study by an advocacy group highlighted that it is difficult for minimum wage workers to live in New York City. Jamaica was chosen as the rally site because of the failure to bring jobs with adequate pay to the area, and because the air train stops there. Most of the jobs that were brought to the community are minimum wage jobs, and the area is populated with immigrants and minorities. New York State legislature is working on a bill to increase the minimum wage, but Senate Republicans are opposed to the measure, saying small businesses that employ low wage workers cannot afford the increase, an argument that has been used to oppose wage increases for the last century.