PM Briceño said he is willing to consider the NTUCB’s minimum wage adjustment recommendations 

BELIZE CITY, Wed. July 13, 2022
The president of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), Luke Martinez, revealed this week to members of the media that the union had submitted recommendations for the increase of the minimum wage to the government of Belize in 2012—and that at that time they had suggested a minimum hourly wage of $6. That suggested amount, Martinez explained, was calculated using a formula that included key social indicators to determine a suitable minimum wage rate. These recommendations were not implemented by the Barrow administration at that time, and Martinez is now hoping that the current government will employ a formula that is guided by key indicators to arrive at a minimum wage that can be legally enforced. 

During his remarks on Monday, Martinez said, “Of course, an increase in the minimum wage is something that we welcome. If you go back to the last exercise which was done, I think in 2012—that was the last exercise, 10 years ago—the NTUCB had submitted what could have been a formula that could have seen us beyond this point, so we continue to support the idea of a formula.”

Martinez remarked that without the use of a formula for the determination of the minimum wage, the government could use the increase of the minimum wage (something that had in fact been included as a campaign promise in the PUP’s Plan Belize manifesto prior to the 2020 general elections) as a way to exploit the public for votes come election time. When interviewed today, PM Briceño said that while they are not aware of the NTUCB 2012 report, his administration is willing to take a look at the recommendations.

“No, I’m not aware of it, but it’s something I am prepared to take a look at. What we did, what we said in planBelize—that we’re prepared to raise the minimum wage to $5,” Prime Minister Briceño said. 

The PM further stated that his government does see the importance of employing some mechanism to take periodic looks at the minimum wage rate to determine whether or not any adjustment is needed from time to time. 

“If we were to adopt that formula in 2012, today the minimum wage would have been, past $5 an hour; in fact, in 2012 the NTUCB, the position was at $6, including the formula that we have shared…” Martinez told the media this week.

However, Prime Minister Briceño has pointed out that the minimum wage issue has to be looked at “realistically”, and he noted that there has to be a balancing act of some kind. 
“We understand, but we also have to be realistic. We could go and say raise the minimum wage to $10 dollars, to $20 dollars, to $30 dollars, but what would happen then to businesses? They are going to shut down, and we are going to create incredible inflation that can lead us to devaluation. So, we have to find this balancing act that we have to do that we can’t raise the minimum wage faster than what the economy can absorb,” the Prime Minister said.

Presently, the minimum wage continues to be $3.30, but a task force was established back in March of this year to oversee the implementation of the $5-dollar minimum wage. 

“The current minimum wage is $3.30 per hour, and it was phased in over a five-year period between 2007 and 2012, with the last raise taking effect on May 8, 2012. Ten years later, the existing minimum wage for unskilled workers and workers who are engaged in elementary occupations is being reassessed. In this context, the task force will develop a plan to institute the government’s commitment to a five-dollar minimum wage,” a March 2022 release said. 
For now, many in the public are urging the government to avoid a one-off increase to the minimum wage and instead implement a regime through which key indicators in our society could be periodically considered to determine a suitable minimum wage. 

Prime Minister Briceño additionally mentioned, however, that those who employ domestic workers, who would now have to be paid at the minimum wage rate, may have a hard time footing those bills. 

“People that go and work in the homes and clean homes, for instance—they have to be paid $5 an hour, and so, for some families, it will be difficult to continue to pay their people that come to their house to cook and clean, and so, so we have to find a balance. I wish it was easy, but it’s not,” he said.

The ILO guidelines on minimum wage point out that, “Domestic workers  are amongst the lowest paid and often amongst the most informal group of wage employees.” 
It goes on to state, “Domestic workers should not be discriminated against. They should enjoy minimum wage coverage equivalent to that provided to other workers generally, where such coverage exists. A minimum wage recognizes the economic and social contribution of these workers and is a key means of ensuring the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.”