BELMOPAN, Belize, The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) is urging that the new five dollars (One Belize dollar=US$0.49 cents) minimum hourly wage should be introduced systematically even as the authorities have announced the establishment of a minimum wage task force as well as a consultancy to determine the best approach to introducing the scheduled change.
“It must be done in a phased manner. It has to be done gradually, over time, and also for there to be triggered,” said BCCI President Marcello Blake.
He told a news conference there is a formula that we’re recommending should be looked at, saying, “it doesn’t necessarily have to be used, but at least it’s a guiding note for the government to then put these triggers in so that we’re not in this position where ten years have passed since the last increase.”
Blake said the private sector group “supports the increase; we are just saying that it has to be gradual so that our members can adjust to the economic strains that they definitely will be faced with.”
Blake maintained that while there is a need for “players at the table to be able to have the varying views, at the end of the day, the Chamber is there to represent its members and the business community, and we are supportive of the change, we just need to make sure that our members are well represented in that discussion.”
He said politicians, as usual, will “get out there and they say what they want to say, and then the public takes it as fact when in fact there is a process.
“Why go out there and make certain pronouncements when you have a task force that is assigned? Let the process go through to the end before the politicians get out there and speak. I think that’s what they need to take a look at.
“Obviously, for political reasons, it works for them, but at the end of the day, it then deters those who may want to participate in the process from saying, “Hey, if you’re saying it’s so, then it’s so, and there’s no way we can change your mind.” But, in fact, for us, we need to continue to advocate for our members, and we continue to be at the table so that our voices can be heard.” Blake told reporters.
The Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development, Labour, and Local Government in Belize recently announced the appointment of a Minimum Wage Task Force to oversee the implementation of the five-dollar minimum wage commitment of Plan Belize.”
Earlier this year, the government said it recognized that any increase to the present minimum wage would have implications for various sectors.
“As a result, the phased minimum wage increases must be linked to productivity growth and Belize’s competitiveness. With stakeholder input, careful consideration will be given to the impact of these increases on the various sectors of the economy in short-, medium- and long-term,” it said in a statement.
During his Independence Day address in September, Prime Minister John Briceño said the anticipated increase in the minimum wage would come into effect in January next year.
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