In his contribution to the Minimum Wage Motion during the sitting of the House of Assembly on Tuesday 11th July, 2023, Single Island Wide Electoral District Representative and Member of Parliament (MP), Josè Vanterpool, showered praise on the production of the minimum wage report – a document which a committee under the leadership of Economist Wycliffe Fahie had spent little more than one year crafting.
While giving high commendation for the work done by the select committee which drafted the policy, MP Vanterpool implored that its work should continue towards the production of a living wage as a next step.
“Madam Speaker, I rise today to categorically support the motion that is before us,” he said. “I would like to commend the Honourable Kenneth Hodge for reaching this milestone, and I compliment the committee for the hard work they did in taking on the Herculean task to prepare this report.”
“Legislation from 1988 would have made reference to a minimum wage, then we would have seen the development of the Fair Labour Standards Act which gave way to the evolution of the 2018 Labour Relations Act, which sets out the legal framework for this Minimum Wage Report,” MP Vanterpool said. “In 2020, Minister Hodge came in, he took up the baton, he charged the Advisory Committee, and here we are today, Madam Speaker.”
MP Vanterpool in his positive in-depth views of the report, deemed that it is a noteworthy document.
“This report that we have before us is something that should be celebrated,” he observed. “The reason why I detailed that path from 1988 to where we are today is because, ultimately, this report, though it is a job well done, should be looked at as a stepping stone to where we truly want to be.”
“Inertia is a powerful thing,” he noted. “This report took a long time in the making. Now, things have started to get going, and so this is a step. While we are in the process of taking this step, we need to look at where the next foot is going to land before we become stagnant.”
He said that the production of the Minimum Wage Report should be used as a catalyst that would spark discussion as to where Anguilla really wants to go with its labour policies.
“The decision was made to institute a flat national minimum wage, but the report shows that there is a big gap, even though it introduces the minimum wage in a way that is sustainable and simple,” he said. “The report features the benefit of combining low wage workers and bringing them up to one standard level. This unification gives a good opportunity for development and flexibility going forward.”
He noted that in the next six months, or so, the business community will be able to respond to the minimum wage. They will have time to prepare, and employees will have the time to plan for their expected increase.
“Though these increases won’t be widely felt, the potential benefit for the employer is that it will not cause too much disruption in their day-today operations while the minimum wage is being introduced,” he indicated. “And after an initial one-year period, an evaluation will take place to determine whether the minimum wage can be increased or whether it is suitable as is.”
“But Madam Speaker, what we should be discussing in Anguilla,” he said, “is not just a minimum wage, but a living wage. And that is one of the other things I love about this report, because it not only introduces the concept of a minimum wage, but it defines the poverty line and the living wage, and it shows how they are related.”
“So Madam Speaker, rather than waiting until the evaluation period, and then to determine whether we should continue with the flat rate or introduce the minimum wage by sector, I think it would be good to undertake the task of exploring what a living wage in Anguilla would look like, strictly based on the cost of living and what it would take for a household or an individual or family to be able to meet their needs while living in Anguilla,” MP Vanterpool said.
During his presentation, he repeatedly commended the committee, saying that one of the reasons why he enjoyed reading the report was because he found it to be quite comprehensive. He expressed the fact that it painted a great picture in terms of the Anguilla context and that it featured a very methodological approach that was thorough, and science-based. He also encouraged the public to find the minimum wage report on the government’s website and read it carefully.
