A wage of £6.32 an hour is not enough

Monday 31st October 2011, 3:00PM GMT.

From Martin Black.
IN response to the criticism of Deputy Southern’s call to increase the minimum wage in Jersey from the paltry £6.32 it is now, I have one or two comments to direct in particular to Clive Spears, the man who says ‘it will cost jobs’ (JEP, 26 October).

This argument is an old chestnut which hails from Victorian times when people were a commodity to be used and abused by employers. Evidently, in his view, not much has changed.

Any business that employs labour should pay that labour a reasonable rate for the work that’s done. If it cannot, then it is not a viable business.

The function of Social Security is not to subsidise ailing businesses to pay subsistence wages to their employees in order that they remain profitable, which is certainly what is happening now. If anyone thinks that they can live on the annual salary of someone earning £6.32 an hour, in this Island, they are clearly mistaken or in urgent need of psychiatric help.

The level of the minimum wage in any country is a benchmark of the level of social responsibility that is felt by its ruling elite. The fact that we have such an appallingly low minimum wage shames this Island, one of the richest jurisdictions in the world.

Something should be done now and Deputy Southern should be applauded for his efforts, not pilloried by advisers to the establishment.

1
Mona Lot

October 31, 2011 at 4:14 pm

I endorse every word of your letter, Clive Spears is living in the dark ages.
These poor wretches trying to survive on the minimum wage paid in Jersey, eventually finish up at the Social, costing the Taxpayer millions.
All so the rich can make bigger and bigger profit margins, what a greedy, greedy place this has became!

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2
ade

October 31, 2011 at 4:42 pm

Mr Black is wrong the rate should be paid is that which the employer is willing to pay and that which the employee can reasonably expect to receive.

If not one is interferring with economics and the result is that work will be done elsewhere for the market rate leading to unemployment and a stagnant economy.

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3
Julie

October 31, 2011 at 5:31 pm

I didn’t know what the minimum wage is in Jersey and to discover it is only a few pence more than in the UK is quite a shock.Having visited Jersey last week to visit family it was,as it always is,a shock to see the high cost of everything and to hear what people are paying for rented properties and everyday expenses such as gas and electricity.How would anyone live on £6.32 an hour- I just cannot imagine.

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4
Capt. Joe

October 31, 2011 at 5:44 pm

Its pointless paying someone £8.20 an hour for a job that’s only worth £4 an hour.

That job will simply leave the island and said employee with an income of £0 an hour and social security with an even bigger bill. Or the price of that service will simply go up to cover the extra cost.

At which point all the moaning minnies, such as yourself, will complain that goods and services are too expensive and that the Minimum wage should be raised even more, thus making jersey even more uncompetitive.

You clearly think that running a successful business is easy. Maybe you should start one up yourself.

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