WILLEMSTAD - The minimum wage must be raised. This is stated in a report from the Social Economic Council (SER) after a request from the government of Gilmar Pisas.
The proposal is to raise the minimum wage by 3.9 percent. This means that the hourly wage would increase from 9.62 guilders to ten guilders.
The Minister of Social Development, Labor and Welfare (SOAW), Ruthmilda Larmonie-Cecilia, takes into account the sensitive nature of this issue. The SER agrees with this. However, the SER has the feeling that the sensitive issue is unfairly thrown into her lap and that the politician does not want to burn her hands.
The SER believes that current economic prospects should be taken into account, as they already entail a great deal of risk. In addition, the Council believes that the increase in the minimum wage should be discussed in a political debate.
The SER urges that the human rights consideration be given equal weight in the decision of the politicians and not only to look at macro-economic and financial-budgetary considerations.
There has been no indexation of the minimum wage for a number of years. The level has remained unchanged since January 2020.