BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (MAY 7TH 2004) – Government employees working for 40-hours per week and taking home less than EC$250 per week are to get a wage increase with effect from June first this year, St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas has announced.
“In other words, if you work for $150, $170, $200, $225 or even $249.99 a week, effective two weeks from today, you shall receive an increase carrying you to the $250 a week,” Prime Minister Douglas told thousands of workers and supporters at the end of the annual Labour Day March.
“This Labour Party makes promises and it keeps them. We may not keep them all on time, because of circumstances beyond our control, but you must never doubt that we will honour all the promises that we have made to the people of this country,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who is also the Minister of Finance.
He said although he did not know what the final percentage increase in salaries and wages for all public workers will be, he wanted on this occasion to ensure that “we brought up those at the bottom.”
“So if when the general increase comes some of you are entitled to a little more than the $250 you will get the difference at that time. If the increase would have seen you getting less than $250 then you will continue to receive the $250. If you are currently working for $240 or $245, you will on the first Friday in June receive $250, but when the general increase comes and you would have been taken to $251 or more, then we will top you up to make sure that you are no worse off than you would have been had you not receive the interim increase,” said Dr. Douglas.
He further explained that those workers who would not have received up to $250 with the general increase, will therefore be brought up to the $250 now and that will be the salary until the next time that an across the board increase is given.
Referring to the issue of a salary increase for public workers promised during the course of this year, Dr. Douglas said Ministry of Finance officials are “currently working on the figures.”
“We are in consultation with the union and with other stakeholders. You will get the increase and you will also get your back pay…so don’t worry. The general increase is coming soon…soon, but I had to take care first of those for whom the burden was heaviest. I could not ask them to hold on a moment longer. They have gotten their increase in June and you will get yours soon thereafter,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said it was not only salaries that he was concerned about, but also about job security.
“There are many persons working hard for this Government who could be turned away tomorrow, with just a moment’s notice and with no benefits whatsoever. That is not good enough. This caring Government will never do that. But you need greater assurance than that. I do not want you relying on the kindness and sensitivity of this or any Government. I want to protect your interest. I want to give you a piece of paper that says you are an employee of this Government, with full rights and entitlements,” disclosed Prime Minister Douglas.
He was that in addition to the salary increases, his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Government is “working on a regime of measures that will see certain categories of non-established workers being brought onto the stream of pensionable workers, whereby your years in the service will count for something, even though you may not be serving in an established position.”
Dr. Douglas told the massive turnout that the casual workers who have been working for Government since 1995 and earlier must feel a little more secure. “You know you are safe with me as Prime Minister, but I am not prepared to leave you exposed. Therefore, I am going to seek over the course of the next few months to have Letters of Appointment in your hands. I want you to feel and know that your efforts and your contribution are appreciated. Nobody must be able to look at any of you and tell you ‘go home,’ without making certain things right,” he said.
He gave the assurance that before the end of the year, those persons would get that “piece of paper in your hand telling you that you are appointed to the jobs that you are now holding.”
“This is called Security of Tenure. You have made me safe as Prime Minister and I will make you safe as workers of this country. Five years ago you were shaking the keys to your new houses…over the course of the next few months, you will display, for all to see, your Letters of Appointment to the various posts that you hold. That is the act, Ladies and Gentlemen, of a caring Government,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
He also disclosed that there are several other pieces of labour-related legislation and policy that will be outlined over the course of the next few weeks.
“Today, I felt I needed to celebrate the occasion of Labour Day 2004, by honouring a pledge that has been near and dear to my heart. I do hope that other workers not in this category will understand. I do hope that employers in the private sector will follow suit,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who noted that he promised the workers in agriculture and on the industrial estate in particular, that he would do everything in his power and in the power of this government to increase their wages.
“That is slightly more difficult, because I am not the paymaster in the private sector. But, we are having ongoing discussions with private sector employers and I am hoping that by the middle of this month, I would be in a position to announce a new wage regime for private sector workers including shop assistants, domestics and others who rely on government for certain protections and guidelines,” said Dr. Douglas.
He said he was determined that as St. Kitts and Nevis begin to turn the corner and come out of the economic tailspin caused by external forces, that the workers of this country can and will be the first to benefit.
“I am therefore appealing today to the private sector to follow the lead of this Government and come to the table with a resolve and a determination to work with the Government in bettering the lot of the workers of this country,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
