THE NEW National Minimum Wage will move from $2,400 to $2,800 for a 40-hour work week as of January 30.
Labour and Social Security Minister, Horace Dalley, yesterday announced the increase in the House of Representatives.
Industrial security guards will see their minimum wage increased to $4,140 a week, up from $3,600.
Mr. Dalley also listed increased benefits for industrial security guards as follows.
Increase in laundry allowance from $18-$20 per hour.
Increase in firearm allowance from $20 to $21 per hour.
Increase in dog handlers' allowance from $14-$15 per hour.
Increase in life insurance coverage from $1 million-$1.2 million, with double indemnity.
The Labour Minister told yesterday's sitting of the House of Representatives the increase in minimum wage was the result of extensive discussions led by the National Minimum Wage Advisory Committee, which had recommended the increase after an islandwide consultation
during last year.
"It is important to note that the level of increase to the minimum wage is higher than the expected rate of inflation for the calendar year 2005," Mr. Dalley said. "We, therefore, continue to maintain the minimum wage at a level that is well above the adult-equivalent poverty line."
He argued that the Government has ensured that the increases protected the purchasing power of the minimum wage earners and should not adversely affect employment rate.
NOT ENOUGH
However, Opposition Spokes-man on Labour, Ruddy Spencer, said the announced increases were inadequate, given current economic hardships.
Shirley Prive, president of the Jamaica Householder Helpers' Association, had mixed reactions to the news.
"No wage raise is ever satisfactory; you always want more," she told The Gleaner last night. "We had asked for a 25 per cent ($3,000) increase, but if that is the best they can do, we will have to go with it."
Household helpers comprise some 30,000 workers, the second-highest paid category of workers the new wage scale will affect.
The largest sector is the retail petrol trade, shops and officer group, which has more than 100,000 workers.
The Jamaica Employers' Federation had recommended an increase of between six and eight per cent to the advisory committee and the Planning Institute of Jamaica had recommended 9.4 per cent or an increase of $2,474 .
The minimum wage was last increased in January last year.
