Jamaica’s politicians, including those at the local government level, are set to benefit from massive increases in their salaries over three years ending April 2025. In some cases, salaries have been increased three-fold.
Amidst outcry from many Jamaicans about what they consider to be an unjustifiable increase in the salaries of politicians, there is also the convenient assessment and scrutiny for purely political purposes.
I have not seen the entire package, so I will refrain from speaking to the sense that it is unfair as some seem to believe. Nevertheless, it is difficult to rationalize away the enormity of the increases allocated to politicians if other public sector workers are [not] afforded the very same percentages in their wage increases. A pound of flour or rice is the same for the well-to-do as it is for the poor.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness argues quote, “I want you to understand that as the steward that you elect, I don’t go there to argue for myself.”
“We know and respect the sensitivities over salaries, so we did not go out as a Government and try to say to the country that everybody is getting basically a 20 per cent increase in their salaries as a base in the compensation review.”
“There is a sense in Jamaica that we must not take on new challenges, that we must not be deliberate in challenging the old norms and ways of thinking. Any time you try to do something different, any time you try to take on those things that have fundamentally defined our failures as a country, there is a choir that comes out very loudly to say leave things as they were.“You know what is going to happen as a result in the increase in pay…all of a sudden the best talents that would have overlooked politics, that would have migrated,” argued Holness as he pointed to a bright young man who said he would not enter politics because he could not see an economic future in that profession.
The Prime Minister had much more to say as he sought to brush back the criticisms against what some people saw as an unjust increase granted to themselves by the political class.
Several people have asked me for my opinion; some have even asked me how come I have been so silent on the matter, purely out of political expediency, of course. The reality is that I have not seen the package to date, and so it is difficult to speak with any depth without having all of the information available to me. What I will say in this brief article is that nothing that the Prime minister said in response to his critics seemed to justify the increases.
Notwithstanding, the People’s National Party’s few members in the House, Senate, and the local government who would seek to criticize these increases have every right to do so as long as they are prepared to give back the increases in salaries they receive or donate the increases to reputable charities. If they are unable or unwilling to do so, they should shut the fuck up.
As I said before, the government of the day, regardless of which political party forms the administration, has a moral duty to be fair and just with the Jamaican people. There is hardly anything political about those truths. It seems however that truth is A virtue no longer available in our world. Instead, political expediency and dogma have replaced the virtuosity of truth.
I was reminded of that just a few nights ago while having a casual conversation on some of these ordinary issues with some associates. No one was prepared to do the most basic thing, which was to admit to truths. Instead, they glossed over truths and plain old lied to make themselves feel good.
The issue of parity in salaries is a legitimate one, but my question to the budget hawks and the many Economic PhDs is simple, where were you when the PNP had carte blanch to do as they damn well pleased for 22 1⁄2 years? Did you not receive your doctorate in economics yet? The PNP and its functionaries are hardly any different from the Fascists Republicans in the United States.
I’m old enough to remember what Jamaica looked like for that unbroken period of destitution and despair while the very same loud mouths were conveniently silent as the PNP raided and decimated the public coffers. Now all of a sudden, everyone is a fiscal conservative. If this weren’t so offensive, it would be freaking laughable. Give me a damn break.
Politicians have no more right to a large pay increase than the lowest public sector worker. If the government is giving politicians a 300% pay hike over a certain period of time, all public sector workers should receive the same 300% wage increase over the same period. Politicians have no more importance than the guys who collect the garbage.
The Prime Minister’s diatribe that the nation cannot retain quality leaders because of the low remunerations is balderdash, and he knows it. Politicians are some of the most privileged people in our country.
If there is a need to worry about retaining politicians, the need should be just as great for our teachers, police officers, nurses, doctors, and every category of public sector employees, including garbage collectors.
We need to move our thinking from this classist, colorist mindset we refuse to eschew.
So let us begin that legitimate conversation on the merits and not the frothing-mouth hysterics born out of rabid political allegiance.
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Mike Beckles is a former Police Detective, businessman, freelance writer, black achiever honoree, and creator of the blog mikebeckles.com.