“The intent is that it should be across the board,” President Surangel Whipps Jr. said of the government salary increase and the overall minimum wage increase.
The government included in the proposed budget for the coming year an increase of $6 per day for government employees under the National Civil Service System. Senate bill 11-70 allocates $3.5 million to increase all government employees for FY 2023.
An increase in both the government salary scale and the minimum wage should always go together, stated Whipps urging the national congress to address the minimum wage bills before them.
Something has to be done. “Make tough decisions, move forward as leaders,” said Whipps.
In response to complaints that the government is only raising its wages, leaving the private sector employees behind, Whipps said that ideally, it should be across the board, but the government couldn’t dictate private sector wages except for the minimum wage. So far, a minimum wage bill is before each house of congress for deliberation, and according to Whipps is “way past overdue” for passage.