DePeiza: It’s not practical

Government’s proposal for a minimum wage as early as April has been all but rejected by the country’s umbrella labour body, the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations (CTUSAB).

During a press conference on Friday, CTUSAB General Secretary Dennis DePeiza declared that such a discussion was unlikely to yield practical results, amid the current depressed economic climate, and without extensive discussions with relevant stakeholders.

Stressing that the Congress is in no way supporting exploitative tendencies from unscrupulous employers, he noted that not even CTUSAB was consulted prior to the announcement from Prime Minister Mia Mottley that was made at the end of a recent pay dispute.

DePeiza said: “Common sense tells us that you have to look at the cost of living and go through all of the indices and so forth. I am no guru in that area.

“Economists have to give us some sound research in that area to understand where we are going. Right now our economy is nowhere, so how can you determine a national minimum wage in a society that is seriously contracting.

“You can’t raise prices because that will kill everybody. Of course, you have to bring the most vulnerable along, so that they can survive, but then you have to take into consideration factors that as laymen you may not even consider.”

In response to the initial announcement, other union leaders and businesses acknowledged that in principle, such a proposal ought to be encouraged. However, similar concerns about the timing of the initiative were raised as well.

“It is a process that will take time. Telling me April is just like tossing a coin,” the General Secretary argued.

“How are you going to get that done? Are you just going to rush something to realize that you have created a deeper hole down the road? It is all right to sound good, but there is some realism that has to be taken on board.

“What is practical, feasible and possible – all of those things have to be put into the mix and that is how you will come up with a solution.”

When asked the extent of the dialogue between the parties on the issue, he said: “There was none. We heard like you on the radio.”

But the longstanding union leader promised that the Congress would meet as a working group to discuss the matter.

He suggested that the Labour Department begin a process of examining existing breaches of the country’s labour legislation that are going unpunished.

“Only yesterday I learned of a company here in Barbados that is paying workers $5.50 per hour. This is another security company… and I want the company to know that labour is aware of its behaviour,” he warned.

“Persons are asked to work double shifts, the time and a half or double time do not apply. This is the behaviour that we have had to put up with in Barbados and some of us are turning a blind eye to some of these things.”

(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)