Income inequality continues

BRYAN ST LOUIS

THE SALARIES Review Commission (SRC) is established under section 140 of the TT Constitution. The commission consists of a chairman and four members who are appointed by the President, after consultation with the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader.

In accordance with section 141(1) of the Constitution, the commission, from time to time, with the approval of the President, reviews the salaries and other terms and conditions of service of the offices falling within its purview.

In the performance of its remit, the commission gives consideration to several factors, such as the undermentioned:

* Remuneration should bear fair comparison with current levels of remuneration paid within the private sector for broadly comparable jobs, taking into account differences in other conditions of employment.

* There should be appropriate levels of remuneration to attract, recruit and retain people of suitable competence, experience, knowledge, skills and personal attributes to fill positions of very high responsibility and trust.

* Compensation packages should provide motivational and intrinsic value.

* Economic and financial developments in the country.

* The fact that unlike other public sector employees, office-holders within our purview have been in receipt of the same salaries for many years with a resultant negative impact on their purchasing power.

These considerations can be considered acceptable, but why aren’t these same considerations applied to public officers and other working-class citizens by those in authority whose salary recommendations were given favourable consideration by the SRC, using the above-mentioned factors.

Instead, when it comes to working-class citizens, the state of the economy and the following provisions of section 10 (3) (a) and (b) of the IRA, which states as follows, applies:

“Notwithstanding anything in this act or in any other rule of law to the contrary, the court in the exercise of its powers shall:

"(a) make such order or award in relation to a dispute before it as it considers fair and just, having regard to the interests of the persons immediately concerned and the community as a whole;

"(b) act in accordance with equity, good conscience and the substantial merits of the case before it, having regard to the principles and practices of good industrial relations.”

Curiously, the 117th SRC report was sent back for review after concerns were raised by the judiciary about their compensation packages. However, the 120th report came back not only with revised compensation packages for the judiciary, but with a review which reflected a further increase for positions inclusive of that of the President, the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader.

Where is the fairness and justice for all workers? Were the interests of the people immediately concerned and the community as a whole taken into consideration by the SRC? Or is it that some are more equal than others?

They always say that we are in the same storm but the class of citizens those in authority believe counts are in yachts while those who are viewed as not being counted are in pirogues.

This decision by the Prime Minister, hiding behind the veil of the Cabinet, to accept the recommendations of the SRC is wrong, morally and ethically, and smacks of selfishness by politicians who are called honourable.

Additionally, the arrogance that goes with the acceptance is displayed without remorse when the Prime Minister is reported to have said, in response to a question whether he believed a salary of $87,000 was a fair salary for a prime minister, “Whether it was fair or not was not the point, since those (the SRC) who had been given the assignment to do it, had done it.”

Is it honourable to approve your own compensation package? Of course not! As such action connotes that you are seeking your own interests and feathering your nest.

Further, the Prime Minister is also reported to have said, “Our acceptance (of the SRC report) is a political issue; always has and always will be. And that is why today, for telling the country that we will accept the recommendation, I am prepared to deal with it as a political issue, because it is a political issue.”

Well, what is politics about? Politics means different things to different people. One of the classic answers to this question is that politics is about who gets what, when and how.

The players – anyone involved in political action – make strategic choices, given the rules and the current conditions, in an attempt to “win” the game by obtaining their goals.

In this scenario of the SRC recommendations, politics is essentially about settling contestation over the distribution of state resources.

This development raises once again the need for constitutional reform to put the necessary mechanism in place to prevent issues like these from raising their heads and creating doubt in the mind of the ordinary citizen whether decisions being made are really honourable. Surely recommendations for your own salary increase should not come before you for approval.

In the meantime, income inequality continues as working-class citizens are being called upon to hold strain while working on outdated salaries, against the background of rising cost of living and many other economic challenges, while those who feel that they are the owners of the nation feed themselves from the public purse.