A civil servant’s dilemma

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am at a loss for words on the topic of low wages or inadequate salaries. As I write this, I honestly do not know where to start. To fathom how wicked our leaders are to public sector employees is an understatement and sadly, it doesn’t seem to be getting any better any time soon.

Imagine, within a climate of high inflation, having to cut costs in order to stay afloat, (and) finding irregular alternatives (as) our Government is yet to find a solution or common ground with regard to paying civil servants accordingly.

The lowest on the salary scale I have seen thus far is $480,018 per annum. I am not sure what the grade is, and as is usually stated, what ‘incentives’ are attached. But let’s dig deeper into this. Who can really live with the aforementioned annual salary?

Forgive me if my calculations are incorrect, as I am not a math wiz but divide that by 12, we get it $40001.5, and it’s likely that that employee is being paid fortnightly so divide by 2, we get $20,000.7 . Now take away the statutory taxes which is estimated around $5,000, we’re then left with $15000.75 at the end of a salary week.

The question now is, who can really live on this within this climate?

Don’t we all have similar needs for the basic necessities of food, paying utility bills, going to the market, paying for transport, etc? All I can say is our leaders are wicked.

It’s as though they’re forcing the mule to work, and us feeling the effects of the mill becoming heavier. I would not encourage anyone from the private sector to do what I did so foolishly and blindly, (that is) seek a job within the public sector. I was seeking ‘greener pastures’ and what I thought would be benefits. The ‘benefits’ are nothing to benefit from as what you will find out is that everything at the end of the day costs a lot of money.

While I do understand that there is ongoing negotiation with trade unions and various government entities, and that our leaders have stated that they wish to implement the New Public Sector compensation restructuring system, couldn’t there be a method implemented to aid our civil servants with the battering we’re currently experiencing from high inflation?

Don’t we go to the same markets?

We cannot prosper within a country where our expenses are more than what we can afford.

I am asking the Ministry of Finance to look into this matter as we are forced at this moment to seek employment elsewhere (and) within the private sector.

If it is our Government’s intention to retain talent, I am asking that they seek to address this matter urgently.

KLAMAR WINT