raphael.lall@guardian.co.tt
Although the cost of living is rising, there are many workers who have not seen an accompanying increase in their salaries.
At the end of March, the Central Bank in a report said the removal of value-added tax (VAT) on a number of items late last year helped ease prices but may not be enough to protect consumers from an increase in food prices as imported inflation continues to climb.
At the end of March, the Ministry of Trade in a statement said the country should brace for more food price increases to add to the 9.7 per cent increase in the cost of an average food basket over the last two years.
The Ministry of Trade attributed the expected rise in food prices to imported inflation.
In March, the Supermarket Association of T&T (SATT) had submitted a list of items of a basic food basket from S&S Persad Supermarket and some of the prices increases over the last year include a 19 per cent increase for an 8kg Happi Brown rice between March 2021 and March 2022.
In this one year period, there was also a 66 per cent increase for a RG Vegetable oil 17 litre. A pound of cheese in this period also rose by 12.5 per cent.
Wendell Goodridge, who has been a port worker for the last 13 years, has not had a salary increase for almost 10 years. The last increase he got was in 2014.
Although he did not give his exact salary, he told Guardian Media that he and his family have been “suffering” for years as the price of food and the cost of living have skyrocketed.
He has a daughter and a wife who is currently unemployed.
“Things really hard all over. I have to cut back on most things in my life. So if I was paying for my pension plan I have to look at cutting that personal pension payment due to whatever costs rising. If I used to make $2,000 in groceries every two weeks, I have to cut back on buying groceries. If I used to walk out with three bags, I walking out supermarket with one bag. Food prices going up but not my salary.”
He also said he has rent to pay and a child to send to school and it’s a struggle to try to reach his commitments monthly.
“I have T&TEC bill to pay, I have to pay my Internet bill, I have school fees. Although I could practise a trade to bring in more money on the side, this job keeps me occupied full time. So earning extra money is not an option for me. If I used to pay to do a part-time course to advance myself, I can’t do it again. If I was saving to buy a piece of land to stop renting, I can’t do that again as I have no money. I had to cut back on entertainment. According to what beach you go by you have to pay $40 for parking. You have to buy to eat and drink but yet you have no money.”
Things are so hard he said he no longer drives his car and takes public transport as he has no money to fix his car.
“The little money I have is to get my child ready for when school opens. It’ll take a while for me to fix the vehicle. The bills piling up and I can’t see my way.”
He said port workers were labelled as front-line workers during the pandemic but this is how they are treated now.
“Everything that comes into the country passes through the Port. What we do affects the entire economy and yet we getting the raw end of the stick. After all these years we didn’t get any salary increase. Management has to settle with the union to ensure we get our outstanding increases,” he said.
A nursing assistant for the last 12 years in a hospital in the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA), who only gave her name as Erica, told the Sunday Guardian that she has not had a salary increase for the last six years and it is getting more difficult every day to make ends meet.
She continues to struggle as food prices soar, the possibility of gas prices rising and the cost of living, in general, continues to rise.
Currently, she earns less than $7,500 a month and with two children to take care of, she said she is “working miracles like Jesus” to put food on her table and pay bills.
She explained that she is a nurse who is permanently employed but she is not part of the Public Services Association (PSA), nor is she a member of the T&T Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA) as she prefers to use her salary for more important things than paying union dues.
While six years ago, she spent a quarter of her salary on food, she now spends half of it on food.
“Half of my monthly salary goes for food. I’m not a fast food person so I just buy in bulk for the month. In recent times, I cut back on meat. The next 25 per cent of my salary goes for bills and the next 25 per cent goes for travelling as I don’t have a car. When I work a night shift I have to hire a car to take me home and it’s $40 one way and that too increased. Things are getting harder and by next month I’ll cut my $300 cable bill. Things are so hard, I have to take this little money and play Jesus and work miracles to make the money last.”
She added that she does not have a husband or anyone else to help her financially and she does everything with a small salary.
She said the low salaries and tough working conditions have forced nurses to migrate to foreign countries for a better life.
“A lot of people in the general public would look at nurses and think we make lots of money but they don’t know the headache and the turmoil nurses go through. There are other nurses who are worse off than me. Sometimes, when I collect my payslip, the words I want to tell the cashier but then I remember she is not the problem. They complain about a brain drain where nurses leave the country. I know other countries are not a paradise for nurses either so for now, I prefer to face the struggle here. Maybe I’ll migrate another time.”
She also said that during the height of the pandemic she worked in a COVID ward and she has paid her dues and it is unfair that professionals like her have to work so hard to make ends meet.
“Who compensating us for all this work? I remember working 12-hour shifts yet we never got compensation for that. I don’t even get paid for overtime, instead, they give us hours back.”
CLICK FOR MORE NEWS
