Minister for Labour Billy Kelliher was quoted on the lunchtime news that the minimum wage will have to be re-examined in current circumstances. That can only mean a downward adjustment. These comments added to the comments about Social Welfare rates, and bringing the minimum wage into the tax net, at the weekend protray to me a clear strategy on the part of government to bring down both labour and Social Welfare rates.
I for one cannot disagree with the necessity for this to happen but I would just prefer it if the government just came out with it rather than this procession of nods and winks.
I agree the minimum wage needs to drop but they first need to address the appearance that they’re going after “soft targets” only. They need to tackle TD salaries/expenses and quangos first. They also need to address costs like electricity.
The government is going to have to tackle the hard targets( those with money/Privalige)
and soft target (everyone else) witha modicum of equity other wise Civil war is guaranteed.
Cutting the minimum wage is crazy - people on the minimum wage spend all their money in the economy. Every cut in their wages directly equates to a similiar cut in the expenditure in the economy.
It also smacks of punishing the poorest and is therefore inequitable.
The only way I could see this being acceptable is if the state enforced a similar cut in prices - not just in those things that it has control of (Gas, Electric, Bin charges etc) but also getting ISME and IBEC to get their members to cut prices. Price gouging is still going on - I’ve stopped shopping in my local Centra - I just refuse to pay their inflated prices for bread and milk - especially as it has gone into funding 200k worth of cars for this guy and his family.
Am on the scratch at the moment. I could accept a reduction.
But, and it’s a huge fucking but;
-not when Inda Kenny is getting a pension while he is still working
-not while our “leader” is amongst the highest earners versus other national leaders
-not when the head of the Central Bank gets 360K per annum
-not when politicians are allowed to hang onto their teaching roles and get paid a salary on the the difference between their wage and whom ever is standing in for them.
-not when the ESB are getting a pay rise.
-not when BOI are getting a pay rise.
-not when there are unvouched for allowance’s
-there are so many other not whens
No Fucking Way!
I have plenty of time on my hands to march in protest. Am pretty sure other dole recipients do too…
The economy is contracting whether we want it or not. The only issue is whether we want an orderly contraction with costs and wages at all levels falling or whether we want a chaotic one where “weak” areas contract severely but “strong” areas don’t contract at all or actually grow.
Our minimum wage is one of the highest in Europe and that can’t continue. However in my view the cut in minimum wage should be at the end of this year or early next year and only after other sectors of the economy have been tackled.
Edit: I also don’t support bringing minimum wage into the tax net. This has the effect of reducing the worker’s minimum pay (further eroding the tiny advantages of working over being on the dole) while keeping labour costs high.
There is no doubt that the minimum wage and dole needs to be brought in line with the UK.
I know first hand how company’s are suffering from competition from the North at the moment.
I don’t agree the minimum wage needs to drop…not in a so-called country where the non-executive chairman of Irish Life & Permanent is taking a pay cut down to a mere 288K this year - presumably a 1 day a week job & board meetings??
Like the guy said in the audience last night on Q&A, the guy from the public sector, they could and would accept pay cuts if they were done in a fair way but it seems they are not. Same for anyone on benefits, it would be accepted if they did the same themselves and took a decent slice off their salaries and cleaned up their act. This is sticking in peoples guts and I agree with posters above, it’s festering big time. Wish someone would organise a march soon for gov reforms and I’ll be there as well.
I have yet to see a “fair” wage cut proposal from the public sector. Everything they’ve suggested so far ignores the chaos currently being wrought upon private sector workers and their own already generous perks like defined benefit pensions.
The minimum wage is just a floor on the price of labour. What happens when you drop prices? Demand rises. Fewer and fewer employers are buying labour at current prices. The market is signalling that the price needs to drop. If there weren’t a legal minimum wage, prices would have long ago adjusted organically. In fact, they would have adjusted on a daily basis - just like other prices.
Min wage needs to fall to keep people in jobs. This is not about punishing the less well off, it’s about keeping them working and out of the social welfare net.
Mind you, they could and should start with some of those ridiculous labour court orders which set minimums for individual industries. I’d say there’s many a brickie who would take close to min wage now except they cannot legally be hired on less than the court ordered €20+ an hour (the exact figure escapes me!).
Interesting to watch the middle classes firing away. Yesterday it’s the fat cat pigs at the top. Today it’s those at the bottom. Other days it’s public vs private sector middle earners having a go at each other.
Minimum wage is 8.65. Forty hour week yields 346 euros.
Dole yields 204, plus rent allowance (say 150 euro p.w. equivalent) plus medical card (no biggie if you’re young but very useful if you’re getting on in years). Not to mention multitude of options for black economy earnings. And tons of freedom if you know what to do with it.
Dole is a no brainer even at these levels. And you want to cut minimum wage?
Every government set income has been set too high - they really thought we were up there with Norway, and somehow they’ll all be adjusted no matter how painful.
We cannot build a competitive economy with one of the highest minimum wage levels in Europe and where if you’re on that wage you’re no better than the dole we pay.
A strong hint that there’s a problem is you can live like a king in other Eurozone (well not literally) on what we pay in social welfare. Why exactly should the basics of life be that more expensive here?
