PUBLIC Services Association (PSA) president Leroy Baptiste has accused the Government of making a mockery of public sector workers by offering them a meagre $2 increase in the minimum wage.
“That is just wrong. Government is just making a mockery and a laughingstock of these workers. What is needed is a living wage,” he told the Newsday in response to the almost six-hour budget presentation by Finance Minister Colm Imbert on September 30.
Baptiste linked poverty to the escalation of crime and criminality and the attraction of depressed people, unable to care for themselves or their families, to the “dark economy.”
In his presentation in the Parliament on Monday afternoon, Imbert noted there has been a systematic increase in the minimum wage over the nine years the PNM has been in Government and while an increase would have its “pros and cons”, bringing comfort and an improved standard of living for those at the bottom of the income scale, it also had the power to create hardship for small businesses.
For marginal enterprises, this could lead to retrenchment, closure or reduced working hours, thus cancelling out its benefits, he said.
“We have, therefore, decided to not make any further increase in the national minimum wage at this time, especially since the last increase, just last year, was of the order of 17 per cent, and SMEs are still grappling with the challenge of managing that increase.”
Instead, he said, “The Government, as the largest single employer of people in the country, is acutely aware of the difficulties endured by persons earning the minimum wage.”
“Accordingly, while we do not wish to place additional stress on the small business sector at this time while continuing to review the national minimum wage for an increase in subsequent years, we will increase the minimum wage earned by public sector employees from $20.50 an hour to $22.50 an hour, an increase of $2.00 per hour, or 9.8 per cent.”
Imbert identified the beneficiaries of this increase as 5,100 workers at MTS, 6,900 workers in CEPEP and 6,200 workers in URP, among other minimum wage workers in the public sector.
“Particularly for MTS workers, such as security guards, it will put as much as $500 per month of additional tax-free income into the pockets of this very hardworking group of workers, depending on the hours worked. Similarly, janitorial staff at MTS, who work shorter hours than security guards, will earn an additional $340 per month. CEPEP and URP workers will also benefit from this increase, in proportion to the hours worked.”
He said this increase, expected to cost the Government $75 million in fiscal 2025, will take effect from November 1st, 2024.
Baptiste scoffed at his offer, questioning, “How is $200 more a month going to change a man’s circumstance? Will it put food on his table (and) pay his rent?
“Is this the world of work Imbert want for the future generation? You think when youths see their parents struggling to earn a decent living, they would aspire to be like them? No. That’s the reason why p
