Letter of the Day | Minimum wage rise enshrines poverty

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Once again, the Government of Jamaica has missed an opportunity to do more for one of the most vulnerable groups in our society, the poor. The minimal increase in the minimum wage from $6,200 to $7,000 demonstrates a disconnect among our leaders regarding the realities faced by poor people across Jamaica.

As a person who grew up in a poor family, the critical importance of the conversation on the minimum wage is not lost upon me. I have relatives who have worked, and are working, in wholesales, supermarkets, clothing stores and private households. For them, the minimum wage conversation is not a distant dialogue about standard setting for business operations. The minimum wage conversation is the Government letting those family members know how much they will be paid going forward.

The minimum wage conver-sation is how they talk to their employers about their raise. It is how they know they have a little more to put towards the 'pardna' - the consequent 'pardna draw' being the source of income to cater to the back-to-school needs of the children in the family.

There are employers who will not pay anything higher than what they are legally mandated because of the class of persons whom they are employing - people who do not have the wherewithal to demand better working conditions and remuneration.

It is the responsibility of Government to ensure that the minimum standard with which it allows the private sector to operate does not lend itself to the exploitation of vulnerable members of society.

The Government does this by ensuring that the minimum wage is livable and can support economic independence. Rather than being transformative, the recent minimum wage increase only continues to enshrine the vulnerability of the poor.

GLENROY MURRAY

glenroy.am.murray@gmail.com