Wage discussion Weer Relevant Dagblad Suriname

The government has announced that it has approved a minimum hourly wage of SRD 38 50.

This proposal was made by an advisory body to the government: the National Pay Council A short search on the internet shows that this council has been set up on a tripartite basis, which means that all three so-called social partners have a seat on this council, which advises the Minister of Labour.

The fact that the council is tripartite is a good thing, because then all relevant votes can be taken into account in this context A short search on the internet also shows that a person who is considered competent is in charge of the Pay Council: the economist Wonnie Boedhoe, who was briefly Minister of Finance in one of the Bouterse cabinets.

We were of the opinion that the minister was very easy to follow at the time, had a consistent story, but above all had a clear vision about state finances Her story boiled down to prudent policy, without fuss and rumbling in the treasury.

She didn't last long and the consequences of what happened next, we're really in the middle of that now We understand that there is some dissatisfaction on the part of the companies with the minimum wage announced by the government.

We do wonder how it is possible that companies are only now waking up Shouldn't they have sounded the alarm sooner when their representative already knew at a certain stage which amounts would roll out from the exercises that had been carried out? Is the amount that has been approved, and that is the amount recommended by the Pay Council, not come after a scientific calculation and then a weighing of interests? There are voices within the trade union movement that indicate that not all companies will be able to afford the wages.

But we also know that in companies the wage component need not be the determining component Interestingly enough, the trade union movement has indicated that raising wages does not cause inflation.

We find it interesting that the companies are still not talking about the issue of productivity We find it striking that the Pay Council would have recommended one or more amounts with calculations, as the companies claim, but that the companies themselves do not come up with their own calculations or say anything about the quality of the calculations.

It is also interesting to learn that only now the companies that are in the formal sphere are believe that too many colleagues are in the informal sphere and are evading all checks carried out by the government, including checks on wages The informal companies are hiding and do not comply with the rules that companies set.

We read on social media that a lawyer allegedly stated that the government is not authorized to set the minimum wage according to international rules We ask ourselves who should set the minimum wage.

When all parties in a tripartite body have fought their butt off with each other and come up with an advice, has not enough been taken into account and has enough say been given? We assume that the Wage Council that has come up with the advice has held consultations with the companies and the trade unions in Suriname We do think that the government will have to set minimum wages by means of a board decision, because otherwise these wages have no legal basis and employers will not be obliged to comply with them.

Minimum wages should be set by decree at a minimum, but it could also be set by resolution or state decree Another option could also have been that the minimum wage would be set annually not by means of a board decision, but by a decision of parliament, ie a law in a formal sense.

We believe that the system, which is new, will be refined over time so that the voices that are relevant are sufficiently heard The Surinamese economy is stuck, there is no real national entrepreneurship in Suriname, there are, however, companies that continually raise revenue in exchange for goods and services they provide.

There is no diversification of the economy, we have been talking about that for 20 years There are no investments by weak ministries such as EZ and BIBIS and by corruption in the official and diplomatic system.

We are waiting for the oil boom that is still waiting, while we have recorded another oil discovery There is an indication that the investment decision will be taken shortly, we hope so.

Meanwhile, the government unions will stir, because part of their salaries will fall below the minimum wage We hear that even middle and senior management wages will not be far from the new minimum wage.

Yesterday we talked about the psr program and 2 things remain important: measuring the productivity of the civil service and eliminating inefficiency and secondly: retaining and developing senior management Without a well-functioning higher echelon, a president can have a thousand good will: a country will not be able to develop sustainably.

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