Increase in Minimum Wage soon to be officially announced
By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Spencer Amory
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SPENCER AMORY, Chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Minimum Wage, in an exclusive interview declared that the Committee has already handed over the document to Cabinet and the long-awaited increase in the Federation’s minimum wage is underway.
The initial process for this change began on June 5 under the jurisdiction of the then Minister of Labour, the Hon. Dwyer Astaphan, and saw broad-base discussions from which the views of the involved stakeholders were elicited.
Amory explicitly stated that the law provides for the establishment of a National Advisory Committee, charged to periodically review the minimum wage received in St. Kitts-Nevis. He added that a report is then forwarded to the Minister of Labour with respect to the recommendations that would emanate from the advisory body.
He further informed that the recommendations are then moved toward Cabinet which would be responsible for reviewing the document considering the parameters set by the advisory body and make the ultimate decision. Thereafter, the decision would be processed into law.
“The reality is, given the prevailing economic conditions with the rising cost of food and oil, and the impact the meltdown that has been gripping the global economy can possibly have, it is significant for us that that review was undertaken because we want people to have at least a living wage, a decent salary. In that sense we need to have a living wage, so at the end of the day consumers can have the ability to afford goods and services. ~~Adz:Right~~
“There was general consensus reached by all of the parties involved to increase the minimum wage. There is a ceiling set by the International Labour Organisation below which salaries should not fall. It is part and parcel of our labour market because the country is expanding, with the tourism and construction boom in the economy, and has been heavily influenced by the impact of external forces on the island which would be eroding what people have in their pockets. It is against that backdrop that the decision has been made.”
Although Amory refused to disclose the range to which the minimum wage was recommended to be augmented, SKNVibes subsequently learned that it would be changed from EC$6.25 to EC$7.50 per hour. The increase of EC$1.25 will increase the weekly wage from EC$250 to EC$300 for a 40-hour working week. This change should put the Federation in the same bracket with Antigua-Barbuda, the only Eastern Caribbean country with such a high minimum wage.
Amory however informed that the decision would be soon forthcoming and the increase emanating from Cabinet would be made public.
