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The newspaper Today recently published a list of minimum wages around the Caribbean. The numbers apply for persons above 21 years of age.
The data have been compiled from Wikipedia and information from the law firm “Van Eps Kunneman vanDoorne”. The Wikipedia information depicts the global situation, where the law firm added the local data.
|
Minimum wage in US dollars |
||||
|
Country |
Hour |
Week |
Month |
|
| 1 | France |
$12.09 |
$483.60 |
$2,095.60 |
| 2 | Netherlands |
$10.93 |
$437.20 |
$1,894.53 |
| 3 | Sint Maarten |
$4.78 |
$191.20 |
$828.53 |
| 4 | Bonaire |
$4.45 |
$178.00 |
$771.33 |
| 4 | Saba |
$4.45 |
$178.00 |
$771.33 |
| 4 | Statia |
$4.45 |
$178.00 |
$771.33 |
| 7 | Curacao |
$4.29 |
$171.60 |
$743.60 |
| 8 | The Bahamas |
$4.00 |
$160.00 |
$693.33 |
| 9 | Barbados |
$3.13 |
$125.20 |
$542.53 |
| 10 | St. Kitts&Nevis |
$2.96 |
$118.40 |
$513.07 |
| 11 | Antigua & Barbuda |
$2.78 |
$111.20 |
$481.87 |
| 12 | Trinidad & Tobago |
$1.94 |
$77.60 |
$336.27 |
| 13 | Dominica |
$1.48 |
$59.20 |
$256.53 |
| 14 | Jamaica |
$1.41 |
$56.40 |
$244.40 |
| 15 | Saint Vincent $Grenadines |
$1.16 |
$46.40 |
$201.07 |
| 16 | Guyana |
$0.99 |
$39.60 |
$171.60 |
| 17 | Saint Lucia |
$0.64 |
$25.60 |
$110.93 |
| 18 | Haiti |
$0.60 |
$24.00 |
$104.00 |
| 19 | Dominican Republic |
$0.41 |
$16.40 |
$71.07 |
| 20 | Cuba |
$0.05 |
$2.00 |
$8.67 |
| Source: Wikipedia / VanEpsKunnemanVanDoorne | ||||
I believe that the minimum wage in the US is over $7.00 US per hour.
I’m curious about the justifications of Saban business that actually pay minimum/near minimum wage to their employees…
In Germany they don’t have a minimum wage p/h.
In the Netherlands the income tax is already 52% (and going up.)
Luxemburg is the best. High income, rel. low taxes.
Minimum wages will be introduced in Germany from the 1st of January 2015 on. Luxemburg can hardly be considered as a country an its income is coming from a large part from questionable bank activities such as attracting finances in order to facilitate citizens from other countries to avoiding taxes about their capital in their own country.
I am shocked at this information. This is after all 2013! I must admit you need less money to live, at least in Saba, then for example the states.Here living don’t walk with a credit card, there is not the temptations to impulse buy,I find there is allot less “Keeping up with the Jones’s” and No extra entertainment, go carts tracks,movie theater, Mall”s to see so much to want! No concerts,golfing,mini golf courses,races like Indy 500 where I grew up to attend and spend. No major sporting events to go to, Baseball games,football,hockey, golf, etc.Roller rinks, Ice skating rinks,junk food..no commercialism,no fast food chains,etc..
So you get to Dive affordable as a local, “ONE OF THE TOP 5 SPOTS IN THE WORLD OR THIS!”, The trails for hiking are awesome and free! Two primary rain forests to visit. Swimming in the sea, snorkeling, fishing, exercising, and plenty of pools at motels, and rentals to enjoy.You have time for contributing to your community, what a Plus this is! Get involved with the aged as well as the young….and in between! Read,Grow!
But to still be paying under $7.00 or $8.00 for the minimum workers is appalling! And you wonder why there is crime?
The business community (SBA, CoC, SMA) offered the state secretary of labor to raise the minimum wage voluntary on Saba to 5.50US (shy of 20%). Unheard of in another country as the Dutch representative of the employer association admitted. No response since they (the Dutch) would have to raise the pension payments to Saba’s pensioners in response. The offered raise was made because most if not all businesses pay already more and hardly anybody pays the actual MW on Saba (rather 7-10US p.h.). Nevertheless this should be more, but with the Dutch imposing unnecessary high taxes on the businesses and to import goods etc. a step increase would mean also an increase in prices and would make us even less competitive towards our competition abroad. There should be a common effort to get the Dutch to the table and find a solution that suits all stakeholders including workers, businesses etc.). To blame each other doesn’t work since the problem comes from the mainland and not from Saba.
You can still choose to pay your employees more than minimum wage even though it wasnt legaly raised.
WOLFGANG..DITTO DITTO!!!
We have always paid our employees more then the MW in Saba!! ( how could you keep a staff for part time work even) And with the rising costs in taxes, shipping,delivery,air fare to SXM,water charges at the Local Laundry going up steadily too, and the high cost of a gallon of gas since 10/10/10, We have to Thank The Local Businesses and Medical School AND supporting businesses for supplying the island with traffic on and off of Saba!!!
Due to these fact, the local’s working and living here, with all the newly raised cost-in-living, very low MW, jobs going to folks moving here from Holland, (after all most all Sabans don’t speak or read Dutch!) So the change really effected the work force in Saba! On and on, it is a true treat as a local to eat out ,or even shop on island for your weekly groceries and get all you need. Funny how folks living in Holland get such good pay to work with the high taxes!
There are many sides to it Tricia. It’s all not so easy to explain as some people would like to have it. As I mentioned in the previous post, we on Saba should work together. Everything else helps only the once plundering the island and its citizens. As president of the Saba Business Association I have worked for many years (is it seven already or nine?) and as a member of the SBA since the beginning in 2000 to lower the tax burden, explain Dutch ministries and civil servants, members of the first and second chamber, were they are wrong and much more other things, to many to count. I guess you know that. By the way, for free, in my own time and in times I normally should have work in my own business. We have achieved a lot of improvements (believe it or not). Now the “evaluation phase” is coming up and we have to stand up for our rights and address the misconceptions of the Dutch about the island and its people and businesses. Let’s stop fighting each other since we are not enemies. Let’s rather stand together as one and address the right people in Holland and locally so we achieve improvements. Let’s be realistic but consistent in our demand for fair treatment. It is a lot to do, let’s get it done.
In 2012 the total income of the Saba-government was incl. local taxes etc. 10.625.005
Income for Saba received from the Netherlands was 9.829.375, being 92.5%.
How high was the total amount of taxes raised by the Netherlands in 2012?
The estimate was $ 52.000.000 for the total population of the Bes-islands being approx. 20.000. Supposing that Saba has 2000 people citizens that are obliged to pay taxes (which is exaggerated high), the income from Saba would be about 10% of 52.000.000 being 5.200.000.
If these figures are correct the Netherlands would have received (less than) 5.200.000
and has paid Saba 9.829.375.
If these figures are correct the Dutch government pays about 2 times than what they receive.
Please check my calculations and see if there is a reason to complain.
I assume no reasonable person expects Saba’s citizens to come up with the whole budget for the island. That is unrealistic and I wonder why this is mentioned in the first place. Which village in Holland has to maintain a harbor, hospital, school and an airport, by themselves? Moreover to maintain roads and such??? How the money was spend, the Dutch spent and for what is also an interesting question? The burden is carried by a few and not equal by all by the way. Up to now the property tax is only levied on a few businesses and individuals since the tax department is unable to keep up with the challenge (three years later). Did they find all off island living land owners, Americans and Canadians and Dutch etc. with second homes who rent it to tourist without paying taxes since they collect the money for rent in their home country? Let’s get real. To say that the tax collection on Saba is no reason to complaint ridiculous. Most people suffer from it and the issue is too complex to make a populist statement about it.
In today’s newspaper it says that Holland will raise the minimum wage on Saba 7.5%, even if the business community offered in a meeting with the state secretary 20%. Why is that? The Dutch have to raise the pensions for the same amount and that is what they don’t want. The Saba government wanted the raise of 20% and the businesses have cooperated. So don’t blame the wrong people and get your facts strait.
Again, please check the figures and complain after that if you can calculate that there is a disbalance also when comparing Saba for instance with the Dutch islands such as Terschelling, Schiermonnikoog, Ameland and Texel which have about the same provisions and cost-factors.
Complaining about details without such financial overall information makes no sense.
The main topic was by the way about the minimum wages. And on beforehand but also without having exact figures, I have the impression that the balance of on one hand cost for living (food, rent, telephone etc) and on the other hand those minum wages should definitely be compered in a better way with the situation in the Netherlands. The investigations about costs of living are as far as I can see not of any quality. There we should make an effort. I have for instance lists of the NIBUD (Inst. for budgetting) on which you can see what the apparently accepted standard expenditures are for people with a minimum income. Those figures are really important for a lot of people on Saba and can be used as arguments to raise minimum wages, “onderstand” etc.