Labour Minister Dr. Virginia Albert-Poyotte says she has received the preliminary report of the Minimum Wage Commission and is happy with what the body has presented so far after extensive work.
But the Minister told reporters that the Commission is still refining the document.
The former trade unionist disclosed that the Commission had examined what was occurring regionally and considered International Labour Organization (ILO) guidelines along with the work people do in the various sectors in Saint Lucia.
“In the coming months, we should be getting something very definite in terms of a report which will be presented to the Prime Minister so he could make that public,” the Babonneau MP disclosed.
However, she said one major concern was the minimum wage’s impact on many business places and the government.
“We will have to be very careful how we roll it out so that we do not offset the system and ensure that the workers get a fair day’s pay,” Albert-Poyotte stated.
At the same time, she noted that workers could not ask for payment if they did not produce quality work.
“It will be based on an hourly rate for different sectors,” she explained.
And the Minister declared that the system would be fair.
“I cannot put a time frame. We just asked them to continue the process,” Albert-Poyotte said regarding submission of the Commission’s final minimum wage report.
So then why is it government workers don’t produce quality work but when some strike for increase why do the lazy ones get an increase as well?
A minimum wage will be a great success for st.lucia . If person’s are paid well ,it can certainly help break the divide . A man earning a salary that has (justice)in it which is more befitting of his value,time and effort, will be better able to provide. A minimum wage will allow ppl to have not just a hand to mouth survival but more disposable income to be able to invest in small projects and also this will help in persons helping they community and this will not stop crime like magic but it can contribute to crime reduction because not having enough is a big fat push factor which motivates crime . Earning a little
extra can decrease levels of stress and depression within society . This small step can go a long way.
We , the Massy supermarket employees would like to be Unionized.
After 400 hundred years of slavery 44 years post independence over 80 percent of private sector workers earn 3 to 5 EC dollars an hour . That is a disgrace and very inhumane.. How can people live in poverty all their lives with wages so low . That is what the people vote a new government in office for , but it is taking so long to pull through give the people a minimum or a livable wage as we continued the journey to Black Nationalism
So long