Civil Servants’ Pay, Minimum Wage Reviews Still Incomplete

By Joyette Mills-Ward
Business Reporter-SKNVibes.com

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas

The initial Labour Day announcement was welcomed by the throngs of industrial estate workers and other persons who currently work for the minimum wage of EC $6.25 per hour. 

Some workers had indicated that they had been awaiting such an increase since the Labour Party Administration took office back in July 1995 as it had been one of the many pledges listed in their manifesto.

Douglas had also told the gathering that Honourable Dwyer Astaphan (who is responsible for Ministry of Labour) had been given the go-ahead from Cabinet two weeks earlier to start the process of minimum wage review.

The minimum wage review began with a consultation on June 5th where 30 representatives from the public and private sectors met shared views and exchanged information. ~~Adz:Right~~

During his monthly press conference on Wednesday (9th July) Douglas told the media that, “On Monday Cabinet had been informed by the Acting Minister [Hon. E. Asim Martin] that the Draft Report was received from the stakeholders regarding minimum wage. And so we will have to deliberate on the final report.”

Douglas also spoke to the issue of reviewing civil servants’ salaries saying, “The civil servants review in salary, that is still on the cards. Remember that it was being linked to the assessment, the review of positions and so forth, that were being done with the assistance of CARICAD.”

He further stated, “I think that exercise, when I asked yesterday, was not yet completed and I again reminded them of the deadline I had given to the public. And I would hope that we could stick to that deadline which I said was July, and we are hoping that I will get a report on this shortly.”

“Our people need to ensure that they can have an increase in the minimum wage so that they can be better able to cope with the cost of living. Your Government is ensuring that this will happen shortly,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

SKNVibes.com spoke to Hon. Nigel Carty, Minister of State with responsibility for Sustainable Development & Information who explained that the whole purpose of the review process is to “close gaps between the highest and lowest paid within civil servant salary pay scales and also to match pay to position.”