Annisette: Give working class wage offer like SRC recommendation

Head of the National Trade Union Centre Michael Annisette says he has no issues with the Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, President and other top public officials getting pay increases but there should be similar increases for the working class.

In its 120th report, laid in the House of Representatives by Finance Minister Colm Imbert on November 15, the Salaries Review Commission (SRC) recommended a series of significant pay increases to officials including cabinet and non-cabinet ministers, ordinary MPs, senators, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary, THA Minority Leader, and heads and members of local government corporations.

The current salaries of the President Christine Kangaloo, the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar were based on recommendations in the SRC's 98th report, which was laid in the House in February 2014, and were subsequently approved.

The 120th recommendations represented increases from 21 to 76 per cent as well and backpay.

Although none of the recommendations have been implemented, Annisette questioned whether the SRC was affective for modern times, as well as the criteria it used to calculate the salary increases.

“Is it based on performance? And if it is, are we happy that the ministers and them are getting increases based on what is happening in our economy, based on crime and all the other issues happening in our country? Why are we building highways when the main supply and feeder roads that are mashing up people’s cars are not being addressed?”

He believed people should be properly paid for the work they did, and that applied to public officials as well as the everyday person. He said the postal and dock workers were not getting their due. And the government was in court trying to stop the implementation of percentage wage increases that were agreed upon during collective bargaining.

“The issue that I have is that the very said government waits until ten, 12 years or more to increase people’s salaries and then they offer you salary increases that are not reflective of purchasing power as goods and services have increased exponentially.

“So we continue to have an unbalanced society were it appears only a certain group of people who are privileged get increases while the other working class people have to continue to struggle, to march and to make noise, for what is justly their due.

“That brings about an unfair and undemocratic society with all the social ills that flow from those kinds of inequalities.”

He said workers, who were more affected by the economy than public officials, had to “scrape out” money to survive on 2017 salaries.

“The bulk of the purchasing of goods and services to keep an economy going comes from the middle class and the working class. Therefore, why don’t we give them proper wages that would allow them to maintain a standard of living that speaks to dignity and respect?”

He said the officials should say no to the increases, and only accept the two or four per cent increases the government offered to public servants whose productivity paid the salaries of those officials.