PHILIPSBURG--Minimum-wage-earners in the country will be earning the same amounts as in 2017, as government has made a decision to not index the minimum wage for 2019, a decision which was also taken in 2018.
In response to several questions posed by The Daily Herald on the matter, the office of Labour Minister Emil Lee told this newspaper on behalf of the ministry on Tuesday that a decision had been made not to index the 2019 minimum wage due to several factors.
“The decision is supported by several factors, including the unavailability of the CPI [consumer price index – Ed.] numbers, which by law is a required from the Department of Statistics (STAT) as part of the indexation decision-making process. In addition to this, other factors play a role, such as the fact that the present recovery economy of St. Maarten as a result of the 2017 hurricanes is simply not stable enough to manage an increase in the minimum wage limit,” Lee said.
This decision was made on October 30, 2018, in consultation with the Department of Labour and several stakeholders, including the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA). The minimum wage legislation gives the Minister of Health, Labour and Social Affairs VSA the responsibility to index the minimum wage.
The minimum wage was not indexed for the year 2018. “One of the key considerations in the decision-making process at that time was to try and prevent mass dismissals post-[Hurricane] Irma and increase job opportunities to support the social-economic recovery process. In consultation with the respective stakeholders, it was decided that indexation would negatively affect the opportunities to reduce unemployment and create new job opportunities.
“Government was operating at a huge deficit with no way to provide much relief and so, providing some sort of stability was deemed more beneficial for the general population moving forward,” the cabinet of the minister stated in its response to this newspaper.
The cabinet said indexation is not mandatory by law, but is optional and takes into account the CPI inflation as provided by the Department of Statistics.
