President of the National?Union of Public Workers’ (NUPW),?Walter Maloney, is suggesting a new approach to paying state employees that includes offering housing concessions instead of wage hikes.
Maloney told the DAILY NATION that while talks for pay increases remained on the agenda, he wanted to see Barbados follow the lead of some neighbours and make subsidized housing part of compensation packages for civil servants.
Speaking ahead of negotiations with Government, he said more money might not be the best deal workers could get, especially in the current economic environment.
“We can get an increase of five per cent, but what does five per cent do for a person who wants a house when they still can’t afford to build their house with that extra five per cent on their salaries? It would make more sense for us to be able to go to Government and say ‘if you can give me 20 acres of land and you are willing to remove VAT on our inputs, we can offer public sector workers house and land together between $110 000 and $140 000’,” Maloney suggested.
Read the full story in today’s DAILY NATION.
