THE EDITOR, Sir:THERE HAS been a great deal of discussion, pros and cons, as well as statements relating to the increase of the minimum wage from $2,000 to $2,400 per week. However, it is beyond me to see how anyone, in spite of personal financial constraints, can honestly be against this marginal intervention in the socioeconomic well-being of the workers of Jamaica.
To begin with, the goals and objectives of a minimum wage in the society is a move towards 'poverty alleviation' and ultimately poverty eradication in the longer term. Therefore, a minimum wage is an initiative that will not only provide a little more take-home pay, but also an opportunity for work experience and on-the-job skills training.
Although, to the best of my knowledge, most employers are willing to pay a little above the official minimum wage, plus other fringe benefits, there is always some quiet resistance in some quarters. Also, because Jamaica, at present, does not have the capacity to provide adequate upward and outward mobility in the job market, too many of our workers become trapped in the minimum-wage doldrums for most of their lives. Herein lies our vast poverty dilemma in a country in which the income gap between the top and the bottom leaves us with a lot of unanswered questions about mere survival for these workers trapped in the doldrums.
If the journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step, a 'minimum wage' is only that first step. If we are to achieve the United Nations millennium goals for signature nations like Jamaica, a lot of work is ahead. We have to lift the working poor out of the existing poverty trap before it becomes an ongoing poverty cycle for future generations.
I am, etc.,
DR. FRANK E. LAWRENCE, J.P.
Community Development Consultant
