PROFESSOR TREVOR Munroe, president of the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU), is calling on the Government to review the tax threshold of the working class to bolster efforts by trade unions and employers establishing a social partnership.
Addressing members of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) at the association's headquarters on Duke Street, downtown Kingston yesterday, Professor Munroe, who is also a lecturer on Government and Politics at the University of the West Indies (UWI), charged that "the tax burden falls disproportionately on the working class. It is grossly unfair and patently counterproductive."
Professor Munroe explained that "when the tax-free allow-ance was introduced for the PAYE workers in the 1980s, it was equivalent to US$7,000; now it is down to US$2,000. This has to be reviewed during the life of the public sector MoU and the Partnership for Progress which support this view."
He said the issue was raised during talks with the Govern-ment on the recently implemented MoU signed between the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) and the Govern-ment for a wage restraint on public sector wages. "The Govern-ment is committed to reviewing the tax burden during the period of the MoU, that is to say, before the end of the two-year period," Professor Munroe said.
President of the JCC Michael Ammar Jr., in supporting the professor, said Partnership for Progress is supporting a recommendation to the Tax Committee to raise the tax threshold at least close to US$7,000. He said the members feel that since the 1980s, the value of the present threshold has been greatly eroded by devaluation and inflation and it was time for a review to be done.
The UAWU president also re-emphasised that "wage restraint must be matched by price restraint" in order for the MoU to be sustainable. He said the private and public sectors both need to understand the importance of this happening for the agreement to work.
And in addressing the business operators, Professor Munroe said the trade unions were committed to the process of establishing a social partnership in keeping with changes such as globalisation and liberalisation.
