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Reform Jersey has announced the party will be bringing forward "counter proposals" to push for Jersey's minimum wage to become a 'Living Wage' after a Government review concluded that doing so would not be "feasible or desirable".
Currently about 50 firms and organisations, including the government, pay the Living Wage, which will rise from £12.19 per hour to £13.41 next year. The pay rate is calculated by taking into account cost-of-living rises and benefits available to islanders.
But the review released by the Social Security Minister this week – which didn't involve consultation with local bodies – said that a "statutory link to a specific formula or target could be counter-productive".
Instead, it said that the Government should continue to look at bringing the minimum wage in line with the median – but noted that a previous States Assembly decision to do this by the end of 2024 was unlikely to be met.
Caritas Jersey, the body that administers the Living Wage in Jersey, hit out at Government following its publication. CEO Patrick Lynch said on X (formerly Twitter) that the report was "tone deaf" and "oblivious to poverty".
Pictured: Patrick Lynch, Caritas Jersey CEO.
Reform Jersey members also expressed their "extreme disappointment", with leader Sam Mézec commenting: "If the Government are seeking to take on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge just before Christmas, they've done a very good job. Their abandonment of commitments to raise the Minimum Wage is a disgrace which shows no regard to growing levels of poverty here. They must be stopped."
Deputy Leader Lynsdsay Feltham said the report was an "utter disgrace" and showed "an absolute failure to recognise the effect that poverty wages have on our community, and no economic analysis of the consequences".
In a statement released yesterday afternoon, Deputy Mézec's party, which has 10 members in the States Assembly, "vowed to take action to allow the States to reverse this decision".
Pictured: Reform Jersey.
Deputy Mézec said that the party remained committed to raising the minimum wage to the living wage and has been since its founding.
"We will be discussing options to bring forward counter proposals in the new year to get the journey towards the living wage back on track," he continued.
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