Speaking at a Government Press Conference today, Friday March 25th, Honourable Vincent O. Wheatley, Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration said that the minimum wage is overdue an assessment since 2019.
The Minister said “I think there was a study done around 2014 that said it should be revised in five years, which would have been 2019.”
Although this revision is many years late, the Minister said: “I don’t think businesses will like me right now if I decided to hike minimum wage.”
However, the Minister still acknowledged that it is “It’s something we have to discuss.” Stating that he has “intentionally put it off until we get a little more settled with our economy.”
The Minister also emphasized that he would like for the Territory to move towards a living wage.
“Minimum wage is an interesting concept; I’d like to move more towards a living wage. Sometimes your minimum wage may not be a living wage. Right now, I think it’s six dollars. If you really calculate what a person makes at minimum wage and look at house rents and the cost of goods and services, you can’t live on that. It’s not a living wage. But it’s a minimum wage.” He stated.
That being said, the Minister affirmed that the issue should be looked at “in the context of what’s happening in the wider economy, before we go trying to make the change from what it is right now. But had it all been equal and no hurricanes and no pandemic, yes, I probably would have advanced that a long time ago.”