ABWU official says minimum wage too low

General Secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU), David Massiah is of the view that Antigua & Barbuda’s minimum wage is way below an acceptable figure.
Minimum wage now stands at $8.20 per hour, after it was increase from $7.50 in 2013, but Massiah said that no employer should proudly admit they pay staff that amount.
“The minimum wage is only a guide; it is saying do not go below that point,” Massiah said. “ You do not wish to pay anybody the minimum wage to have them scarcely operate in this economic hard times.”
While contributing to the Budget Debate, last week, Labour Minister Steadroy Benjamin said his department would be investigating the breach of the law as some employers have been paying their workers less than the minimum wage.
He told Parliament that some businesses that file Work Permit applications for non-nationals have been indicating that full time employees were being paid less than the minimum wage.
 
(More in today’s Daily Observer)