New minimum wage still not enough - UCASE

 

The Union of Clerical Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE) is urging the government to review the minimum wage for low income earners. 

 

The new minimum wage increase came into effect on Sunday, June 1. It has moved from $15,000 to $16,000 per 40-hour work week. 

 

But speaking with Radio Jamaica News, UCASE President Vincent Morrison argued that minimum wage earners and the island's security guards cannot survive on the new increase.

 

"The PIOJ (Planning Institute of Jamaica) recommended $18,000 per week as a liveable wage years ago, and I believe that what the government should be looking on is something nearer to between $18,000 and $20,000 per week for security guards," he proposed. 

 

Mr. Morrison also urged the government to formalising a pension scheme for security guards across the island.

 

"I think it can be done, all the companies coming together. It can be done by way of putting together a scheme that will cover security guards. What we have is a situation where when the guards retire from the companies, they have nothing to get. They cannot save because the $15-16,000 a week that they have been getting, you just can't save anything out of that," he complained.