Election candidates tell businesses wages will have to go up

Thursday 19 April 2018

Jersey's 2018 election roadshow met local businesses yesterday, with four selected senatorial candidates telling Chamber members that wages would have to increase.

Out of the 17 Senatorial candidates, Chamber members voted to hear from Senator Ian Gorst, along with Deputies Sam Mezec, Kristina Moore and Tracey Vallois.

It was a chance for them to address a crowd full of business leaders from various backgrounds including digital, hospitality and recruitment.

A question about each Candidate's economic policies. Discussion about the rich/poor divide, Brexit, falling productivity, growing population, govt reform and the high cost of living in Jersey affecting the retention of skills #ChamberLunch pic.twitter.com/ZYuGRCSkhD

— Jersey Chamber (@jerseychamber) April 18, 2018

President of the Chamber of Commerce, Eliot Lincoln, put the questions to all four guests, giving each one the chance to be the first or last to give their answer.

Where some questions prompted varying views - like school class sizes where both Kristina Moore and Ian Gorst spoke of extra teaching resources and the importance of results and life-long learning, Sam Mézec and Tracey Vallois spoke of the need to overhaul the current curriculum and provide children with inspiration instead of the curriculum being a box-ticking exercise - other questions had all four candidates singing from the same hymn sheet, such as the importance of a skilled workforce, job opportunities, affordable living, and digital technology.

The last question of the Chamber lunch session had to be approached carefully by the election hopefuls, as they were asked where they stood on the minimum wage – in front of a room full of employers and managers.

Pictured: The four election hopefuls all spoke of the importance of paying employees enough to give them a good standard of living. 

But they all agreed that the minimum wage should increase, with both the former Chief Minister and Home Affairs Minister praising companies who have opted to pay the higher rate of a living wage rather than the island’s minimum wage.

Former backbenchers Tracey Vallois and Sam Mézec, who have had pivotal roles in scrutiny, warned of the danger of the poor getting poorer and the income support bill getting bigger if the minimum wage doesn’t increase – both suggesting that they would like it to go up to £10 per hour in future.

The four guest speakers - who all hope to return to the States after serving for the past four years - are among the 17 nominated people; including Gerard Baudains, Simon Brée, Lyndon Farnham, Sarah Ferguson, John Le Fondré, Ant Lewis, Frank Luce, Phil Maguire, Stevie Ocean, Steve Pallett, Gino Risoli, Moz Scott and Gordon Troy, who are trying to win islanders votes for the eight Senator seats up for grabs on 16 May.