Falklands : Minimum Wage Proposed for Falklands' Workers
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 25.10.2010 (Article Archived on 08.11.2010)
Work has been on-going for several months now on the development of a minimum wage for the Falklands. I asked Councillor Short what stage the issue was at currently.
FIRS INTERVIEWS THE HON GAVIN SHORT
A Report for FIRS by Stacey Bragger (SB) 18/10/10
Work has been on-going for several months now on the development of a minimum wage for the Falklands. I asked Councillor Short what stage the issue was at currently.
GS: Of course the minimum wage has formed the first part of what will be an on-going process for some considerable time till we get to wherever we want to with the over-haul. At this stage we’ve got to nail the minimum wage. I joined the group part way through the process. We basically got to the stage where we fixed or suggested a rate plus the conditions that go with it – who it applies to and who it doesn’t. That’s all gone out to various bodies like the Chamber of Commerce, Labour Organisation for their input. When that comes back in we meet towards the end of this month or very early into the next.
SB: It’s been agreed as a policy that there should be a minimum wage then amongst councillors?
GS: Yes. That’s the feeling. When we first got elected we sat down and asked about our priorities and I said there should be a minimum wage and that there should be an overhaul of the whole employment law.
SB: What rate has the Minimum wage been proposed at?
GS: We are looking at £4.53. I will put a caveat on that as it is subject to change because we are a working group and this has to go through GPC and EXCO and, of course, EXCO can rightly throw it all out, change it and do as they wish. But at present that is the thinking at the moment. Whether it changes after the consultation period I can’t honestly say. We have just got to wait and see.
SB: How was that figure arrived at?
GS: Basically we looked at what would be almost the minimum rate for a place to live. We based it on Lookout Lodge plus looking at the social side of what is a person’s pay per week if he or she were unemployed. We tinkered around with those figures and arrived at our magical £4.53.
SB: £11,000.0 a year or so?
GS: I will take your word on that.
SB: Are you happy with that rate?
GS: I have a gut feeling that it’s slightly low but I could be wrong on that because we are dealing with almost a green-field site and nobody’s tried this before down here. It was the feeling of the committee – possibly the correctness – that even if it is pitched slightly low you can always adjust up but if you go too high you will have to end up freezing it for a length of time or bringing it down which wouldn’t be at all a popular move.
SB: And who dies this apply to?
GS: Basically anyone working here in the Falkland Islands. There are certain exceptions like fishing vessels that are out on the high seas. I think it would go into oil rigs as well but I don’t think it would have any effect on them whatsoever.
SB: The issue of fishermen has been raised before and it is a bit of a strange one for you in a way.
GS: It’s devilishly hard one then to calculate. I mean. A lot of those people are, in fact, employed in other countries and as such hardly ever set foot on the Falklands, whereas our thinking at the moment that anyone working on the PROTOGAT and all local fishing vessels that base in the Falklands and operate out of Stanley, for example.
SB: If that rate is set and introduced I would imagine it would be continually reviewed so that it is working and not damaging business or anything like that.
GS: There would have to be. We just talked among ourselves pretty informally and we see the first review being in at least a year and my feeling is I would like to see some sort of trigger mechanism built in to all this that it is reviewed every year.
SB: Minimum wage would affect working conditions. An issue was raised if you bring this in that people are still working crazy hours and in pretty sorry situations. Would it have a big affect on that, do you think?
GS: A minimum wage would, of course but it is what it says on the box – the minimum that it is survivable on. That side of it will get looked at in the next tranches after this.
SB: Has there been some friction on this? Do you have disagreements on arriving at some of the calculations on that?
GS: We looked at things from different angles but normally I would say things have been good – a good sensible debate and we’ve arrived at what seems to be a consensus figure. It is hard for them to see – employers – as well as – employees organisations actually are engaging positively in this. I think the message is that the train is going to come into the station so lets work together to make sure we get something that’s fair and equitable for all time.
SB: I think it’s been argued that current employment laws are not being adhered to by some, so what’s the point of introducing more legislation if we can’t enforce the ones that are already in place?
GB: If we have instances where they are – somebody is wantonly brealing the law - then, of course that could entail prosecution.
SB: If all goes to plan, how long would you take to have this in place?
GS: I think this first tranche we can get ready to go in about another month to go to EXCO. Then we move on to the next part. And that will be process. That’s the way we tend to do this in bite sized chunks If we tried to do the whole lot in one go we would probably be bobbing around and not getting where we want to be in three years. Our office would be up. So we will just break it down into chunks we can manage and do it that way. The other thing is we want to do it ourselves here in the Islands. So if we make a mistake it will be our mistake and we will live with it.
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