Cayman Islands lawmakers voted Thursday to support introducing a minimum wage of $5 per hour for workers in the Cayman Islands.
Independent member for North Side Ezzard Miller brought the motion to amend the Labour Law to enable the introduction of the $5 per hour national minimum basic wage, a sum that would be reviewed every five years.
Mr. Miller, who has tried several times in the past to introduce a minimum wage, said he wanted to see the minimum wage implemented across the board, rather than a system where minimum wages would be applied to different industry sectors.
He said he was asking for a minimum basic wage below which “no-one can be hired, whether Caymanian or a person on a [work] permit”.
The minimum wage would not apply to school-age juveniles.
He said he understood the Chamber of Commerce was in favour of the introduction of a minimum wage to Cayman.
Minister of Education, Training and Employment Rolston Anglin said the government had been looking into the issue of a minimum wage for some time and planned to bring a bill before the Legislative Assembly during the House’s November sitting.
Although all elected members of the Legislative Assembly present for the vote were in favour of the motion, a $5 minimum wage may not be the amount set out in the government’s bill.
Mr. Anglin queried how Mr. Miller had come up with the sum of $5 per hour, which based on an eight-hour day would total $800 a month, and the five-year review period.
He said the “vast majority of Caymanians and their families could not reasonably survive on” $800 a month.
The minister said many countries with free
market economies had established a minimum wage regime, but certain sectors
were treated differently, for example, the hospitality or tip-based service
jobs. In jobs where gratuities were paid, Mr. Anglin said lower-than-minimum
wage was paid as a basic wage, but if the worker’s tips added to his or her
basic wage, did not add up to the national minimum wage, then the employer
would make up the difference.
Checking job advertisements would show the
need for a minimum wage was necessary, Mr. Anglin said, citing one job ad that
offered a wage of US$2.50 per hour.
However, the minister highlighted that
introducing a minimum wage to some sectors could have the detrimental effect of
bringing “cheap imports” into the labour market.
“The government believes that the rate that
is being proposed by the mover has the real potential for driving down wage
rates in sectors in which Caymanians currently actively participate,” Mr.
Anglin said.
He added: “One of the things that in
implementing a minimum wage … that government has to be careful about it and
guard against is employers who start to see the minimum wage as a baseline or
benchmark for entry level positions, when the day before the introduction of
that minimum wage, that rate was higher.”
Government backbencher Ellio Solomon
suggested Caymanians would work for $10 an hour, an amount that has been paid
to clean-up crews hired on ad-hoc projects at Christmas.
However, he said if a minimum wage of $5 an
hour was introduced, this would put pressure on local single parent families
who relied on domestic helpers and who could not afford to pay them $5 an hour.
When he rose to speak on the motion, the
leader of the opposition Alden McLaughlin, describing Mr. Solomon as the
“minister for hard labour”, said he did not understand Mr. Solomon’s position
on the issue. “Did he say $5 was too high, but $10 was too low because
Caymanians will not work for that?”, he asked.
He said minimum wages would mostly affect
immigrant labour in Cayman. Whatever the minimum wage was set at, he said, “We
have to start somewhere.”
Mr. McLaughlin said that one of his biggest
regrets was not being able to introduce a minimum wage to Cayman during his
party’s term in office during the previous administration.
Premier Bush also spoke on the motion,
saying Caymanians needed to be trained to work in the hospitality field and
said he would be making an announcement within the month in relation to a
hospitality training school.
The original version of this story appeared on cayCompass.com on 9
September 2011. This updated version appears in today’s edition (13
September 2011) of the Caymanian Compass.
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Congrats, you have just implemented the first step in bankrupting many business’s and changing the cayman way of life forever. In a negative way.
Sure, it won’t be at the 5 dollar mark. But wait until people VOTE FOR for 7, 10 and more dollars an hour at minimum wage.
One thing the government is missing on this issue. In most countries, minimum/low income wagers make up the highest percentage of voting public. That is why sure as the sun rises, the minimum wage will go up and up.
Simple math here, making a minimum wage, will force stores to charge more for their goods, because they need to pay more for their workers. This will raise the price of goods and services up. Making that minimum wage worth less and less, because everything gets more expensive. And this is because store owners having to pay the people who stock the shelves and counter clerks more, because of minimum wage, the minimum wage/low earners, will force minimum wage up again with voting. Because those minimum wage earners won’t be able to afford the store bought items. vicious circle, which the government has just brought to Cayman.
Why try to be like the states? Free market is the best market.
No one is forced to work low wages. They choose to. What don’t people understand about that? It’s a no brainer. If you want more wage, get experience, change jobs, get an education, learn a new skill. One of those will allow you to get a better paying job. If those who are unwilling to get any of the above, why are you rewarding them with raises like a minimum wage.
One thing the government is missing on this issue. In most countries, minimum/low income wagers make up the highest percentage of voting public. That is why sure as the sun rises, the minimum wage will go up and up.
Not here though – most of the people who this affects are not Caymanian, and they have no vote.
A truly free market would have no labour restrictions Big Berd, so I am guessing that if you are employed, there is someone in the world that could do your job and expect less money. You might want to reconsider your approach here.
Well lets look at this directly, and see who is directly affected here, shall we?!
The Ritz. They pay their servers 3.83 cents CI an hour. This is hundreds of people. Now, they get an instant 1.17 CI raise.
Where do you think the Ritz will have to make up for that money loss?
Right…charging more for food and rent.
Now do you think the other restaurants are paying more than the Ritz for their servers? Probably not.
Well with one fell swoop of the pen. It is now going to be more expensive to eat out for everyone. Since these restaurants and business’s have to pay more for their staff. They will need to pass that cost onto the consumer.
So….the cost of living just got more expensive, because of this minimum wage.
What if the store cannot afford to charge more for their goods, because the consumer thinks the price of those goods in that particular store are already to high. Congratulations. We have just put a business out of business.
And just when the economy is down. It’s exactly what we need. A higher cost of living for everyone.
I could go on and on. But it’s pointless.
But I will leave with this. Once you implement this minimum wage. You can’t ever take it back. It’s awesome how people who are not economists, are making decisions that are going to have huge ripples through the economic industry’s of Cayman.
How can a government arbitrarily determine what an individuals labor is worth? Is there no end to a governments involvement in the lives of individual citizens? Freedom and self responsibility is eroded each time the government makes people do things. This kind of government arrogance invites greater corruption and cronyism and does nothing for the people of the Caymans.
Patti man. I didn’t directly say there are a majority or minority of low income wagers that are Caymanian or not. Because I do not have those stats. And I don’t want to guess.
I am not going to base my diatribe around assumption. What I do say, though is financial fact, of the problems with minimum wage.
Do you have the stats on the percentage of low wage earners. and what nationalities they are on cayman..I didn’t think so.
Remember, you are pegging on 5 dollars an hour. They stated above, that isn’t a concrete number. They could pull out 10 dollars an hour next week. So don’t just think about the Philippine maids and such. You have to think broader than that narrow scope of thinking.
Minimum wage is bad. End of story. Show me a country that has minimum wage implemented and no high inflation. I will answer it for you. You can’t. Because minimum wage has a DIRECT correlation with high inflation in those countries.
And with this motion, they have within the next 10 years, mark my words. Implemented not just minimum wage. But inflation to.
Inflation is natural. But with minimum wage. It increases inflation at a far faster rate. In the 80’s a 250 thousand dollar home was considered only by the rich.
What’s a 250 thousand dollar home now? 30 some years later!
Get my point? And economic pyramid is only as good as the base that holds it up. And our pyramids base always will be our low wage earners.
In a properly run society there will always be more poor than rich. You might not like that. But that is how the world works. You play with that economic model, and you are only asking for economic problems in the future, that cannot ever be fixed.
Big Berd…The Ritz-Carlton does not have ‘hundreds’ of servers, yes they have a lot, but not hundreds. Now, with this being the second largest employer on the island, I would estimate that a very small fraction of them are Caymanian. In fact, I cannot think of any place on the island where the majority of staff who are in the minimum wage territory are Caymanian. Have you been to any restaurants, fast food joints, hotels, dry cleaners, gas stations, landscapers, building companies lately???
The bloated CI government employs a lot of Caymanians, and when you see the remuneration package for an entry-level position, I can kinda see where you may have an inflationary problem arising.
In terms of inflation, your argument is flawed on several levels. Yes, a house may now cost 250k, but income has progressed around a similar rate. The cost of fuel, and virtual monopoly of CUC, will have a far greater impact on inflation than a minimum wage.
The recent economic crisis that hit most of the world markets was not caused by a few rogue states implementing ‘minimum wage’ was it? If that was true, I am sure the Americans would have invaded them or told them off for being naughty, or something.
Minimum wage is bad. Yeah, nice balance you have there. It is not all bad, and it is not all good, and if you cannot at least acknowledge it has some merits, then you are wasting your time on a forum.
You are wrong Pattie man. I know there are roughly 300 serving type in the Ritz along. Not including the other hotels.
I know several HR people there.
The point I was making with those servers. It means tourists will have to pay more. Which means they may stop coming here.
the general public pays more, because there are people out there, that make less than 5 dollars an hour.
But you are right pattie man, Just like your solid fact about how many low wage earners are not actually voters on the island. Your once again, right about how many low wage earners there are at the Ritz. Please, stop arguing if you don’t have any facts, and just an opinion.
Bad time for Minimum Wage
Lowering the cost of living could be achieved if the government would lead by example and start eliminating the national debt, continuing to grow an ineffective civil service at the rate it was grown over the last decade was not in the best interest of these Islands and now we the taxpayers are suffering for that.
Discontinuing the 0.50 per gallon fuel duty would help a great deal at the pump and CUC, last time I checked the fuel duty represents 10% to 15% of CUC bill.
This government could have lowered the cost of doing business in Cayman when the economy was down, remember Economics 101 you always tax in good times and reduce taxes in bad times they did the opposite, I believe we may have been better off if they did nothing, losing all those businesses and permits wasn’t worth it, by trying to tax our way out of the downturn.
Why aren’t the supermarkets finding cheaper sources of food for example in Central America, Nicaragua for example has cheaper staples food, beef, seafood, pork, etc than the USA? Is it because the supermarket get their food on credit from the US suppliers and may lose their credit if they dare find other suppliers?
Why does the Agriculture Department have these barriers that make it impossible to import foods from other countries on a large scale? Ask yourself this question.
The middle and lower class are always hit the hardest and the minimum is always expecting from the upper/rich class.
If our government had better oversight over our entitlement system aka Social Service Department we could save a lot, by giving those that really need, and make the people that don’t need or otherwise can work less dependent on handouts would be beneficial, because the manipulation of our Social Services Dept is one of the biggest injustices in Cayman and this needs to be fixed sooner than later, less people dependent would be beneficial for government and the public in the long run.
I fully accept there are many outside influences that dictate our cost of living but this madness of a minimum wage will cause more burden on Caymanians as our system will be flooded with foreign low wage earners, this will surely lower the standard of living NOT the cost of living.
In an already weak system of check and balances, if you believe employers fooled Immigration before wait until the minimum wage comes into effect, this new law in effect gives employers a reason to NOT hire Caymanians as the majority of Caymanians can’t live off CI 5.00 per hour, Immigration doesn’t come near in effectively policing the work force now it will be worst I’m afraid.
big berd – you win, you are a master debater, and I bow to your encyclopaedic knowledge of economics.
I was in the UK during the summer, and bought a pepper for 20p, oh and 3 shirts for 16.99. This surprised me, as there is minimum wage legislation there.
I think John Maynard Keynes summed it up in his famous comment yes, what big berd said..
5 an hour, may almost make it worth being shot at for some of those ‘Caymanian’ security guards…
FINALLY…someone gets it.
5.00 per hour?
How about lowering the MLA pay to CI5.00 per hour and lets see if they would get by, with cost of living so high.
MLA’s don’t care they are receving they huge wack() they have no problem getting by, what about the people that are living from pay cheque to pay cheque and barely getting their bills covered?
Like I said big berd, you truly are a master debater.
Just promise to stop making me look silly, with your cunning arguments. Please.
I am so happy now that I only have to pay my workers 5 bucks an hour that means i save 3 per hour for every employee and because i have 9 locals working for me i save 27 bucks an hour on top of no work permit fees O yegh looks like i gonna get fatter …love it
ON second thought i really dont like when they beg me for money maybe i will just stick to the 8 bucks to start
To all of you who are not in favour of a minimum wage then I guess you have forgotten quickly what it costs to live in Cayman.
Slavery was abolished a great time ago by Abraham Lincoln and the fight continues for some sort of fairness in the world. People will stop coming to Cayman because the minimum wage law comes into effect is nothing short of hogwash. I cannont believe that people are arguing against it. Wake up you business experts and when its convenient there are comparisons made to other parts of the world. Then do your comparisons and realize that the rest of the free world has a minimum wage in place. Stop lining the pockets of business people at the expense of the common man.
…but Bubba, this may push the price up of a beer at the Ritz from 7 dollars, to 7 dollars and 10 cents. Of course the multi-millionaires will be put off by this, the economy will suffer, everyone will leave, and we’ll just have cat boats and straw hats!
The only real issue that can be raised is not the actual introduction of the minimum wage, but exactly how this government would administer it. It is not exactly known for its effiency and forward-thinking ideas. It will be abused by some, but it will protect many more people from abuses.