Advocates Network wants high salaries reversed
Non-partisan alliance Advocates Network (AN) has called for a reversal of the massive salary increases for members of the political directorate, calling them “unconscionable and unfair” and “totally unacceptable”.
“Further, salary increases of ministers and MPs should be justified by performance indicators that show they have performed better than other public sector workers,” the group said in a statement yesterday. The group blasted the “cold arrogance displayed by the Government of Jamaica (GOJ)” to even contemplate a 200 per cent increase to ministers and members of parliament (MPs), while giving most public officers a 20 per cent salary increase over three years (2022-2025).
“This decision flies in the face of the public sector workers who, after protracted negotiations, were cowed into signing the recent salary increases to avoid ‘reversal of economic gains’,” AN said. The group said that Jamaica is suffering from a shortage of teachers, nurses and other skilled workers because the salary increases were not attractive enough to retain them.
“To now offer the political directorate such an over-the-top salary increase, plus other perks they receive, is a slap in the face of these public sector workers and most Jamaicans who are struggling to maintain the basics of food, clothing and shelter to survive in these difficult times of inflation,” AN said.
The group opined that Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke’s argument that public sector salaries are “grossly out of line” with salaries in the private sector is an inadequate justification without reference to accountability and performance.
“In the private sector, if you don’t perform you will be fired. The power to recall non-performing MPs was one of the 16 recommendations made since 1991 in a Stone Committee Report advising the GOJ on the performance, accountability and responsibility of elected parliamentarians. Thirtythree years later, most of the recommendations, including a list of duties for MPs and a Code of Ethics, have been ignored by successive administrations,” said AN.
The group opined that equity and fairness demand that the GOJ immediately reverse the proposed salary increases “to achieve more equitable levels of income between the highest and lowest salaries across the public sector”.