Anti-Poverty Platform representatives Claire Elshot and Raymond Jessurun.
~ To seek meeting on matter ~
PHILIPSBURG–The unions represented under Windward Islands Chamber of Labour Unions (WICLU) are of the opinion that the non-indexation of the minimum wage for 2019 is unacceptable and is a form of social injustice, the St. Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform and Consumers Coalition said on Thursday.
The unions will be requesting a tripartite committee meeting amongst representatives of the private sector (employers), government and unions and will be seeking to have the indexation of the minimum wage placed on the agenda of the next tripartite consultation for discussion.
The Platform is critical that minimum wage earners will be taking home the same pay they earned last year, because their wage was not adjusted according to the Cost of Living Adjustment of the past year. “The minimum wage ordinance stipulates that minimum wages have to be indexed by the first of January with the cost-of-living increase of the CPI (Consumer Price Index) difference from August the year before and August two years before. This is one more year that minimum wage earners have to survive with a 0% adjustment to the cost of living that has deteriorated their purchasing power. With the increase after Irma being the highest recorded since 2006,” Platform representatives said at their weekly press conference on Thursday.
Authorities took a decision to not index the 2019 minimum wage due to several factors including the unavailability of Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers, which by law is required from the Department of Statistics (STAT) as part of the indexation decision-making process, the office of Labour Minister Emil Lee had told this newspaper earlier this month.
In addition to this, other factors play a role – such as the fact that the present recovery economy of Sint Maarten, as a result of the 2017 hurricanes is simply not stable enough to manage an increase in the minimum wage limit. This decision was made on October 30, 2018, in consultation with the Department of Labour and several stakeholders, including St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA), the minister’s office had said.
Representatives of the St. Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform and Consumers Coalition said in an effort to address “the refusal” of authorities to index the minimum wage, they held a meeting with the unions affiliated with WICLU recently. “After reviewing with them the developments concerning the non-indexation of the minimum wage, the representatives of the unions concluded the following: 0% COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) is unacceptable and a social injustice,” Platform representatives said. “Just as (was done) for seniors, widows, orphans and the disabled, a socially-responsible and legally-justified new minimum wage (also) had to be established which should be a living wage.
The union representatives were not at all amused with the fact that Minister of (Health, Labour and Social Affairs) VSA (Emil Lee) only consulted with employer representatives and not also with the unions on this matter.
“It was decided that WICLU will ask for a tripartite meeting between representatives of the private sector employers, government representatives and the representatives of the labour unions to table this issue on the agenda: indexation of the minimum wage in the next meeting of the tripartite consultation.
Just as in the past, during the days of Island Territory Sint Maarten, the unions will provide a written analysis and proposal for a socially- acceptable minimum wages to the tripartite meeting to reach consensus. All technicalities to implement a retroactive implementation of the minimum wages per January 1, have to be properly addressed.”
The Anti-Poverty Platform said it will stand behind the unions represented in WICLU in their quest to negotiate a socially-acceptable minimum wage for workers in Sint Maarten, “which will make it possible for them to have an equitable level of income in the Kingdom of the Netherlands not to be in poverty.”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/84895-unions-call-non-indexation-of-minimum-wage-unacceptable
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