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“[…] This development raises once again the need for constitutional reform to put the necessary mechanisms in place to prevent issues like these from raising their heads and creating doubt in the minds of ordinary citizens about whether decisions being made are really honourable.
“Surely, recommendations for your own salary increase should not come before you for approval…”
The following Letter to the Editor on the inequality between the salaries of our leaders and ordinary working people was submitted to Wired868 by Bryan St Louis:
(via Newsday)
The Salaries Review Commission (SRC) is established under Section 140 of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Commission consists of a chairman and four (4) members who are appointed by the president of the Republic after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition.
In accordance with Section 141(1) of the Constitution, the Commission, from time to time, with the approval of the president, reviews the salaries and other terms and conditions of service of the offices falling within its purview.
(Courtesy Office of the Prime Minister)
In the performance of their remit, the Commission gives consideration to several factors, such as the undermentioned:
- Remuneration should bear fair comparison with current levels of remuneration paid within the private sector for broadly comparable jobs, taking into account differences in other conditions of employment;
- There should be appropriate levels of remuneration to attract, recruit and retain persons of suitable competence, experience, knowledge, skills and personal attributes to fill positions of very high responsibility and trust;
- Compensation packages should provide motivational and intrinsic value;
- Economic and financial developments in the country;
- The fact that, unlike other public sector employees, office holders within its purview have been in receipt of the same salaries for many years with a resultant negative impact on their purchasing power.
These factors are considered acceptable, but why aren’t they applied to public officers and other working-class citizens by those in authority whose salary recommendations were given favourable consideration by the SRC using the above-mentioned factors?
Instead, when it comes to working-class citizens, the state of the economy and the following provisions of Section 10 (3) (a) and (b) of the IRA, which states as follows applies:
“Notwithstanding anything in this Act or in any other rule of law to the contrary, the Court in the exercise of its powers shall—
- (a) make such order or award in relation to a dispute before it as it considers fair and just, having regard to the interests of the persons immediately concerned and the community as a whole;
- (b) act in accordance with equity, good conscience and the substantial merits of the case before it, having regard to the principles and practices of good industrial relations.”
Curiously, the 117th SRC Report was sent back for review after concerns were raised by the judiciary about their compensation packages.
(Copyright Carol Simpson)
However, the 120th Report came back not only with revised compensation packages for the judiciary but also with a review that reflected a further increase in positions, including those of the president, the prime minister, and the opposition leader.
Where is the fairness and justice for all workers? Were the interests of the persons immediately concerned and the community as a whole taken into consideration by the SRC? Or is it that some are more equal than others?
They always say we are in the same storm, but those in authority seem to count only citizens in yachts, while those viewed as unimportant are in pirogues.
This decision by the prime minister hiding behind the veil of the Cabinet to accept the Salary Review Commission recommendations is wrong, morally and ethically, and smacks of selfishness by politicians who are called “honourable”.
Additionally, the arrogance that goes with the acceptance is displayed without remorse when the prime minister is reported to have said, in response to a question whether he believed a salary of $87,000 was a fair salary for a prime minister:
“Whether it was fair or not was not the point since those (the SRC) who had been given the assignment to do it, had done it.”
Copyright Office of Parliament 2023
Is it honourable to approve your own compensation package? Of course not! Such action implies that you are seeking your own interests and feathering your nest.
Further, the prime minister is also reported to have said:
“Our acceptance (of the SRC Report) is a political issue; always has and always will be. And that is why today, for telling the country that we will accept the recommendation, I am prepared to deal with it as a political issue, because it is a political issue.”
(Copyright Alva Viarruel/ AFP)
Well, what is politics about? Politics means different things to different people. One of the classic answers to this question is that politics is about who gets what, when and how.
The players—anyone involved in political action—make strategic choices, given the rules and the current conditions, in an attempt to “win” the game by obtaining their goals.
In this scenario of the SRC recommendations, politics is essentially about settling contestation over the distribution of state resources.
This development raises once again the need for constitutional reform to put the necessary mechanisms in place to prevent issues like these from raising their heads and creating doubt in the minds of ordinary citizens about whether decisions being made are really honourable.
Surely, recommendations for your own salary increase should not come before you for approval.
In the meantime, income inequality continues as working-class citizens are being called upon to hold strain while working with outdated salaries against the background of the rising cost of living and many other economic challenges.
At the same time, those who feel that they are the owners of the nation feed themselves from the public purse.
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Bryan St Louis is a former education officer for the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU).
My question surrounds why workers in this country (across the board whether they be government ministers, opposition, state institution , police, fire service, coast guard and we can go on and on) through out the length and breadth of this country are not performing their duties in a way that provide or enhance some kind of value for those who should be receiving the outcome of the services they are providing. Just consider our annual budget which hovers around 60 Billion and by the budget review it goes up by another couple billion. If this is treated as an investment (it should be) what is the returns received on this spend? As a country we need to be a lot more serious about how our affairs are conducted and who we entrust to manage it.
The SRC has also failed to address the obscene (unlimited) exemptions on duty and taxes for the purchase of motor vehicles, which some have abused to the extent of many millions of dollars. The SRC (not the present one) in its 98th Report had recommended that this be “capped” so that this particular squandermania would be eliminated.