The Plight of the Workers

In the lead - up to the 1995 General Election the Labour Party campaigned to the Industrial Site workers that they would, if elected, ensure that the workers receive $300 per week. The workers who were very happy to hear this and anxious for its implementation, went out and voted for the Labour Administration. For 12 long years they have waited and toiled and waited only to be told by the Prime Minister that the Government does not own any factories and so they cannot be helped. These workers have no one to turn to so while their meager wages continue to lose value to inflation th

In the lead - up to the 2004 General Election, in campaign mode, the Labour Party again turned up at the door of the Industrial Site workers telling them that they have had time and they have super low income houses for them. This is 2007 and the factory workers are still looking for those super low income houses. In 2004, again in the lead - up to the General election, the Labour Party assured the sugar workers that they would not be put out to pasture as their support had been unwavering for the last 75 years of the movement. Again this was a cold lie by the leaders of the Party.

While all those various things have been happening, the prices of goods and services have been escalating without a corresponding increase in wages. It has been getting tougher for workers to survive in these hard economic times. The money just does not seem able to last until the next paycheck. Even newly returned university graduates struggle to make ends meet while paying their student loans, an obvious sign that something is amiss in the country. There now needs to be a concerted effort to once again ensure that the entrepreneurial sector and not the public sector is the engine of growth in our economy. St. Kitts & Nevis needs a strong and vibrant private sector, a curtailment of the wanton spending by the Government to ensure that there is always money at the end of the financial year to ensure that education, health and capital development is not hampered.

It is not just the industrial workers at the factories of from the cane fields that have suffered under this Labour Administration. The Royal St. Christopher & Nevis Police Force is staffed by over 300 brave men and women who have made it their job to stand as a bulwark against lawlessness. After enduring appalling working conditions, recognized by this Government for over a decade as well below the minimum health standards, they tried through the lawful channels of the Police Welfare Association to gain redress of their situation. Their pleas for genuine improvement have obviously been misunderstood with the outcome seeming more like discrimination and victimization than efforts to better their working conditions.

For their trouble they received accusations of seeking a political confrontation and intimidation through a secret witch - hunt called a Commission of Inquiry. Despite all this, which represents only the most recent assault in a long history of being publicly undermined by this Administration, it was felt by Church Street that this was not enough. In a shocking display of indifference this Administration loudly outlined a system of allowances that will benefit about 30 police officers, a full 10% of the force. For example, when we examine a few of these allowances we that the plain clothes allowance of $100 will only benefit the 20 or so officers who do not wear a uniform; the canine allowance of $150 covers about 5 persons; the instructors allowance of $150 covers about 4 persons. Despite promises there is nothing in the proposals that deals with repairs to broken and dilapidated police stations, or the rat infestations, nothing about raising salaries and nothing to raise morale. When one considers the paltry amounts being offered, the fact that many allowances such as the instructors allowance is a one off payment and that the army will receive much more funds according to 2007 estimates, one is only beginning to grasp the dire nature of the situation. Is it any wonder that the force is seriously understaffed?

The teachers have been waiting for their time to come since before the last General Election. Their time has not come as yet. There is still a shortage of basic accommodation in the schools and when there is a shortage the teachers have to dig deep into their already shallow pockets to ensure a steady supply of materials. The civil servants hope and pray elections every 5 years because this is when the Labour politicians see that they have worked for 5 years. Their salaries when reviewed can only muster a 10% increase in the interim but a final assessment never comes. This is against the backdrop of Government ministers taking a 34% hike. This is against the backdrop of the Government ministers wanting now to take another 15% hike for all their hard work.