By Rachel Mohamed
The National Minimum Wage Committee is calling for input from the public on a possible increase of the National Minimum Wage, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has tabled its concerns on the idea of increasing the national minimum wage arguing that the present rate should remain unchanged for the betterment of the unemployed youth and businesses.
Speaking on VOC’s News Beat show on Thursday Michael Bagraim, the DA Spokesperson on Employment and Labour said the proposal has been across the board with an average inflation index claiming that Cosatu has asked for an inflation plus 6 percent minimum wage increase which is about R4700 rand a month.
He warned that people need to be realistic by weighing the pros and cons of a wage increase considering the economic climate in the country.
“Looking at close to 11 million people cannot find jobs. When we look at young people between the ages of 16 and 25 years it’s almost 70% of unemployment which is not sustainable. It cannot be business as usual. We need to get people into the workplace,” said Bagraim.
Meanwhile, the Labour Federation COSATU has strongly opposed the DA’s position of freezing the national minimum wage at the present level saying that could free up the market for more jobs.
Speaking on VOC’s News Beat show earlier Matthew Parks, Parliamentary Co-Ordinator for COSATU lashed out at the DA’s stance saying, “We have 6 million front-line workers ranging from farm to domestic workers from construction to hospitality who earn a pittance and have no disposable income,” he said.
Parks further highlighted that these workers are battling with the cost-of-living increase where workers spend their money on electricity, food, and transport.
“Increasing levels are far above inflation for example electricity went above 12% and with 33% where Eskom getting its way and petrol increased because of wars in Europe and workers are drowning in debt,” he concluded.
Listen for the full interview:
VOC News
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