Deputy Chief Sec: Salary hike for public officials 'insensitive' to average man

Deputy Chief Secretary Dr Faith BYisrael said she is excited about some parts of the Salary Review Commission (SRC) recommendation of increases for public officials, including members of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA). However, she said such talks are insensitive in the current climate where public-sector workers are being offered a salary increase of just four per cent.

The 120th report of the SRC , which Finance Minister Colm Imbert laid in the House of Representatives on November 15, proposes an increase in her Deputy Chief Secretary salary from $25,240 to $40,6290.

BYisrael, the assemblyman for Belle Garden/Glamorgan, is also Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection. The SRC has proposed a bump in salary for secretaries from $24,370 to $38,3230.

Assistant secretaries would also benefit from a bump from $19,150 to $34,041.

The Minority Leader's salary is recommended to increase from $16,000 to $28,771.

In an interview with Newsday on November 26, BYisrael said, "When I came into this (politics) it certainly was not for the salary."

BYisrael entered the assembly in 2017 as a councillor for the Progressive Democratic Patriots. She won her seat at the tied January 2021 THA elections and retained it in the December 2021 THA elections.

She said, "I have been functioning and I will continue to function, whether that recommendation is approved or not.

"I am probably more excited for the salaries for the administrator and chief administrator increasing. Because I know that they do a lot of work in Tobago, and in my mind do way more work than the Permanent Secretary and Deputy Permanent Secretary in Trinidad. Seeing them get a bump in salary was most interesting to me about the whole report."

BYisrael recalled tough times while earning between $7,000-$8,000 as a minority councillor in the PNM-controlled THA from 2017-2021. The SRC recommends councillors be paid $10,687.

"Consider that I was a councillor without portfolio for four years, which is the lowest of the salaries in THA. That was a difficult period in terms of trying to make my regular bills."

She said an improvement in salary would definitely be worthwhile to "somebody coming into this at those lower levels."

Asked if Parliament should accept the recommendations, BYisrael said, "I honestly cannot say. There are some areas I am excited about, but on a personal level, whether it stays or increases, I will do what I was elected to do by the people of Tobago."

Asked whether salary increases should be performance-based, BYisrael said measuring performance is difficult. "I have heard the argument that some of our politicians are lowest paid in the Caribbean. I don't even know if this is true because I have never compared.

"But i hear the plight of the average man on the ground who is trying to do his best with minimum wage. I do feel this is a somewhat insensitive time, to be honest, to speak of increases of multiple of ten, 20, 30, 40 per cent for some people while others are being told four per cent or nothing."

Unions should back SRC report

In a social media post on November 25, former Public Services Association leader Watson Duke said unions should support the SRC report. Among the proposals is an increase in the Prime Minister's salary from $59,680 to $87,847, a 47 per cent increase and a a raise in the THA Chief Secretary salary from $41,030 to $52,159.

Duke, an assemblyman for Roxborough/Argyle, is expected to benefit from a hike in salary from $11,320 to $16,032.

Wearing his trade-union hat, Duke said he has been involved in a number of salary negotiations in the past.

He said, "The Prime Minister is worth every single cent. I am no fan of (Dr) Rowley or friend of him. In fact, I am a bonafide foe. but he is worth more than $85,000. Our economy is a good economy, and he is worth more than that."

In the same breath, he said public-sector workers are worth more than the four per cent being offered to them in their salary negotiations. "Workers should be paid on par with the jobs that they are doing. We have to start that discussion and that must begin with those that are in Parliament."

He said union leaders should not be arguing for their members to get salary increases before parliamentarians.

"The strategy I would recommend – let them pay themselves.

"It is an indication that the economy is doing better. it is an indication that people are paid what they are worth. It is good for Peter, it is good for Paul, It is good for the goose, it is good for the gander. We talking equity. Nobody wins when everybody loses."

In a WhatsApp response to Newsday, Secretary of Health Zorisha Hackett told Newsday that fulfilling her mandate as an assemblyman and secretary were her main priorities and not the SRC report.

She said, "At this moment, my primary focus is on serving the residents of my beloved electoral district of Bethesda/Les Coteaux with dedication, and ensuring that their needs and concerns are addressed to the best of my ability.

"Additionally, I am deeply committed to making a meaningful impact in the Division of Education, Research, and Technology, which I currently have the privilege to be leading at this time....

"I believe that my role is ultimately about delivering results, empowering our communities, and fostering positive change in Tobago. Everything else, for me, is secondary."

Efforts to contact Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and THA Minority Leader Kelvon Morris were unsuccessful as calls and messages to their cellphones were unanswered up to press time.