Corporations on Bonaire nonetheless concern additional value will increase for the reason that minimal salary and advantages will build up sharply in January and July. Now shopper affiliation Unkobon and industry union Usibo also are elevating the alarm.
The Area of Representatives made up our minds in October that citizens of Bonaire, Saba, and Statia – next virtually 14 years – will obtain the social minimal as of July 1, 2024. That is completed at the recommendation of the Thodé and Nibud investigative committee. The minimal salary on Bonaire should subsequently build up by way of virtually 30 % in 2024: from 1,236 to at least one,750 greenbacks.
Is repayment plenty?
To compensate firms for the emerging salary prices in their team of workers, The Hague is allocating 4.2 million euros in subsidies. Alternatively diverse employers and passion teams at the island surprise whether or not that plan has been correctly evolved.
For instance, they suspect that the subsidy could be too minute or that many firms don’t but know that they’re entitled to monetary support. The worry is that businesses will now additional build up the costs in their services and products to pay for the salary will increase in their team of workers.
“The employers are very happy that a social minimum has finally been established because we have had to fight for it for years,” says Paul Coolen, chairman of the Bonaire Trade Federation. “Only, we expected more from the execution. For example, that funds would also become available because the 4.2 million will soon be used up.”
“We do not know whether the compensation is sufficient for all companies,” says Willem of the Usibo industry union. “The lack of data makes it difficult. We don’t know how many people on Bonaire receive the minimum wage.”
Corporations elevate costs.
“Some companies are already raising their prices,” says Norwin Willem of the Usibo industry union. “We hear this from companies that are affiliated with us. That they notice this or participate in it themselves.”
“This mainly concerns supermarkets that both increase prices and charge large price differences for the same products. We have requested an emergency meeting with the Executive Council about this.”
Coolen (Bonaire Trade Federation) additionally appreciates those sounds. “I hear large companies around me say: I must raise the prices. Or: I’m going to raise the prices and lower the service. That will have consequences for sectors such as tourism.”
Client Affiliation cries for info
Client affiliation Unkobon could also be interested by a worth build up as a result of hardly ever any knowledge marketing campaign has been performed.
“Employers know that higher wage costs are coming, but have no idea that there is also price compensation,” says chairman Wietze Koopman. “There is absolutely nothing to see about this on the website of, for example, the Dutch Caribbean Service.”
The federal government, nationwide and native, should employment anyway, Koopman believes. “To prevent entrepreneurs from erring on the side of caution and raising prices in advance. I am afraid that this will happen where there are many low-paid staff, for example at supermarkets.”
Unkobon is in discussions with the native executive about knowledge and backup for corporations.
‘Compensation unfairly distributed’
There also are issues that the repayment won’t achieve firms that want it maximum.
“The discount is the same for everyone. As a result, companies that have much higher-paid staff receive a much larger share of that compensation than companies that have relatively many low-paid staff,” says Wietze Koopman (Unkobon). “There should be much more targeted compensation.”
Bonaire Trade Federation additionally has doubts about this. “There should have been a step-by-step plan behind that. Now a law firm also benefits from this, while we would prefer it to end up with companies that employ gardeners, cleaners, or security guards, for example.”
