ECA concerned about high CAL salaries

RICHARDSON DHALAI

“DEEPLY concerning” and “rather disgusting” were some of the descriptions used to describe the reported salaries and bonuses ranging between $70,000 to $90,000 for eleven senior officials of Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL).

In a media release, the Employers Consultative Association (ECA) said while it was “not privy” to the minute details of the issue, “from all reports the hiring and compensation decisions made by CAL do not appear to have been made in ignorance of a Parliament joint select committee’s recommendations.

“The revelations are deeply concerning,” the ECA said, pointing out that companies did not typically make compensation decisions “principally based on the past academic achievements of individuals or their standing in society.

“In fact, companies usually shy away from hiring individuals who appear overly-qualified, which in our experience, can lead to over-compensation for the job to be performed and, by extension, a waste of financial resources.

“Being a state-owned company governed by specific regulations, the reported hirings and compensation at CAL are worrying. The payment of sign-on bonuses, as indicated, at a time of extreme national economic constraints further exemplifies the need for greater accountability and conscientiousness by leaders entrusted with the management of the country’s scarce resources.”

Penal/ Debe Chamber of Commerce president Rampersad Sieuraj said the issue was one of governance or “a lack of governance” which seemed to typify state enterprises.

“It is rather disgusting that these things are happening, given the fact that everyone is asked to tighten their belts, including the business community, which is under undue stress right now.”

Chamber of Industry and Commerce CEO Gabriel Faria offered a temperate view, saying while he too did not have enough information on the compensation packages, the airline’s board of directors and executive management would do what was necessary for the company.

“I’ve heard numbers called but I don’t know if that is base salary, salary plus travelling, salary plus incentive, if that is total income. But what I can tell you, in most private-sector organisations you pay based on what’s going on in the competitive landscape – in other words, what it takes to attract the talent – and you pay them based on what they can deliver in terms of results.”