Trade unionists are urging Government to rethink the proposed $340 as the national minimum wage, which should take effect by April 1.
General secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), Toni Moore, who is also the MP for St George North, said the union had long advocated for the implementation of a national minimum wage to establish a protection floor in the workplace, but said the proposed $340 was still “woefully inadequate”.
“The recent discussions surrounding the Minimum Wage Order have been regarding the proposed $8.50 per hour/$340 per week becoming the new standard, but I have said publicly on more than one occasion, that it is significantly below where a minimum wage should be.
“Even if previous analyses have shown that $340 could have been considered as a minimum for affording a basket of goods with the basic necessities of food, rent, utilities and public transportation per week, by today’s cost of living standards it is woefully inadequate,” she told the Weekend Nation. (RA)
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