High salary increases not justified

The prime minister’s recent tabling of job descriptions for parliamentarians is nothing more than a pitiful attempt to legitimise the astronomical pay hike he has granted himself and his colleagues.

Were it anything else, then this would have been tabled weeks ago and debated well before the wage announcement. Even more disturbing is the fact he and his team continue to double down on this absurd, extravagant and ridiculous pay package, which speaks volumes about what they think of themselves and us the taxpayers who elected and pay them.

The wages of our rank-and-file government workers have always been directly correlated to the wages of our elected officials as our government workers had to go through the process of wage negotiations with our elected officials this connection between their lot and our elected officials ensured a compensation t the top level that was anchored by the results of the wage agreements those producing a overall outcome reflecting some degree of equity and fairness. This connection is the basis for trust essential in negotiations and relationships as in the past whatever was agreed to the masses would be expected to reflect upward. In the public sector where market forces are virtually irrelevant for wages it is critical to establish that connection because this is the public’s funds which should be utilised for the people's best interest not just because ‘we can afford it’, to quote the minister of finance.

KEEPERS OF THE PURSE

Parliamentarians are the keepers of the purse and the arbiters of the allocation of the scarce resources of the nation. Through this action they have lost the moral right to do this when they have so blatantly raided the coffers of the country for their own benefit.

Indeed, pocketing a 200-per-cent increase after negotiating 15-20 per-cent increases to the nations’ teachers, nurses, doctors, police and civil servants is a brilliant coup, if Dr. Clarke had demonstrated such artistry with our economy maybe the 2016 “five in four” growth plan would have become reality.

The points above irrefutably establish the inequitable nature of the MPs' new wage package, some have sought to justify the increase to bring our political leaders compensations up to globally accepted levels, a dangerous argument to be sure, but so vast has the increase been that even this brings no reasonableness to their position below is a comparison with the United Kingdom’s prime minister Rishi Sunak, and some key differences between the UK and Jamaica.

Category Jamaica United Kingdom Difference (per cent)

Salary US$187,000.00 US$105,000.00 +80 per cent

GDP (2020) US$15 billion US$2.7 trillion -17,900 per cent

Population three million 67 million -2,133 per cent

Size 10,000 km2 248,000 km2 -2,380 per cent

The table clearly shows two things, a comparison between Jamaica and the United Kingdom from an economic size and demographics is farcical which makes it all the more absurd that our PM will be earning almost twice the salary of the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

FINAL DIMENSION

The final dimension that this increase can be assessed from is performance, have we, the tax-paying public, been getting value for our money, in that regard – Jamaica’s has struggled to achieve two per cent GDP growth per annum, is failing in law enforcement, has the lowest literacy rate in the Caribbean (if we exclude Haiti) an overburdened and crumbling health sector, a road network that despite the huge amount of expenditure on new Highways, remains abysmal, and sewage treatment plants in disrepair.

So, an appraisal based on relative compensation (locally or internationally) or performance assessment gives no justification for anything close to a 200-per-cent increase, on the contrary it begs the question should they be paid at all.

But, where do we go from here? Rather than showing any sign of backing down, the PM and team are digging in and by virtue of ‘spreading the love’ have coerced unspoken support from members of the Opposition, as well. And while they have not been able to win over the public to their point of view, they seem to now be settling in for the long haul, hoping that this blows over and dissolves from consciousness of the electorate.

So how do we the taxpayers, the ones who ultimately are paying these increases pressure our leaders to rollback this perversion, years ago it would street protests, placards and road blocks, but today we live in the information age and social media are as powerful as placards and protests, online petitions, trending posts, threads demanding and supporting a rollback these are forceful tools, let’s use them and make it clear we demand that this travesty be undone.

Paul Duncan is a technology consultant.