De Peiza on minimum rates for construction workers: good idea, poor execution

The Government’s decision to set minimum rates of pay for employees of construction firms that get public contracts has been described as “a great idea with a poor execution” by former President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Verla De Peiza.

Speaking on Sunday night at the DLP’s City of Bridgetown branch meeting in Baxter’s Road, she suggested that the schedule announced by Labour Minister Colin Jordan last week contained no instructions to prevent employers from giving their workers fewer hours.

Jordan had outlined rates for eight defined categories of workers within the construction sector, ranging from $8.50 per hour to $30 per hour, as he complained that some companies were paying employees less than minimum wage and engaging in other unscrupulous practices.

“You see that minimum wage? It is a great idea with a poor execution because it says nothing at all about how many hours a week you’re guaranteed to work,” De Peiza said. 

“So to have an hourly rate is simply for the employers to determine how much they plan to spend on the line item called payroll and to adjust hours to suit. It does not assist the average worker and you are an integral part of an economy because an economy does not have to be large but it has to be turning over,” she added. 

During her presentation at the meeting, De Peiza complained about the state of Barbados’ capital city.

She described it as “dead and desolate”.

“The face of Bridgetown is dilapidated. Never have we had it like this. Government led the move and a march out of Bridgetown. If you really think about it, there are very few government departments left in the capital of Barbados. Several businesses have followed,” the former DLP leader said. “We need to be mindful of this because the decline of Bridgetown is simply a mirror of the decline of this country.”

She suggested that the Government had missed an opportunity to drive growth back into the capital city when it demolished the old National Insurance Building three years ago.

“Just imagine if that building had been repurposed for UWI housing. That’s just a suggestion where there would be a nighttime population in town, and anybody who’s been a student anywhere at all knows that when you’re spending your parents’ money is when you spend the most. If we had a nighttime population in town, the businesses in town would do better. It would even lift the face of Bridgetown,” she said.

The attorney-at-law said that what made the matter worse was that at a time when the city needed development, the “solidly built” structure was removed to create the Golden Square Freedom Park.

“We certainly didn’t need another park. It is right across the road from Independence Square…. Queen’s Park is another green space in town. They paved Jubilee Gardens, the Central Bank has a green space. Bridgetown was not lacking in parks. Bridgetown is lacking in development,” she insisted.

De Peiza also contended that with increasing National Insurance Scheme contributions and user fees at state facilities, including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, people were finding it difficult to make ends meet. 

She called on the Government to address citizens on these matters, especially within an environment of high taxation.

“We tax our people very high and they have every reason to expect not only good social service but a social service that is free because that is paid for in your taxes. But you pay in your taxes or you pay your user fees too. So we have quietly, and without a conversation with the people, walked away from that model of social democracy, and I think we owe it to the country to open up that conversation,” De Peiza noted.

Urging the Government to be careful in its handling of the reform of the state-owned enterprises, she warned that large-scale job cuts would add pressure to the already overburdened social care agencies.

She stressed the need to shift focus from increasing Barbados’ visibility to the world to fixing the critical issues that have an increasing number of people seeking assistance from the Welfare Department. (JB)