Remarks Delivered by the Honourable Charles Washington Misick Premier On the Pay and Regrading Review 2023 4 December 2023

#TurksandCaicos, December 10, 2023 –  Luke 12:48 KJV……. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. Foremost in my government’s mind in commissioning the review of the pay and regrading of public service employees are the three principles of Justice: Equity, Equality and need as it relates to the changing economic fortunes of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Because change is constant, we must constantly strive to counter balance the impact of negative changes to our people. As our economy grows our people must participate in the economic dividends of growth.

Social changes and demographic shifts, require a rebalancing paradigm between equity, equality and need. The pay and regrading initiative by my administration is another step in a series of steps that my government has taken to reflect the critical pre conditions of economic justice.

Every time that I have served as a member of the executive arm of government, I have made changes to boost the pay and the working conditions of people in these Islands – both public and private sectors.

This time the recent pandemic, supply-chain shortages, wars and other exogenous factors have fueled inflation making it difficult for families to cover the cost of shelter and food.

Even as my government have provided social programs to make up for the gap between pay and inflation, inflation continues to outpace these assistance programs thereby eroding the quality of life my government promised our people.

But as we promised that no one would be left behind we continue to try to match benefits against costs.

Unless benefits are matched by an increase in productivity, we would merely be adding fuel to the fire of inflation. It is therefore critical for all to understand the Ying and Yang between productivity and pay.

It is also important to understand that equality is only fair when all starts at the same position while equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments for imbalances.

On the other hand, need speaks to necessity rather than desirability. Equality, equity and need is reflected in the end product of the consultant recommendations – leaving no one behind.

When in 2015 public servants received a pay increase, we promised that it would follow with further improvements to public service working conditions. We are now delivering on that promise.

In 2015 we increased the minimum wage and promised that we would make further increases on a needs basis and as dictated by the cost of living. We delivered on that earlier this year.

And now this comprehensive review of the public service pay has resulted in a reorganization of the structure scale to align with modern practice, competitiveness and when the new management system is added civil servants will be more accountable.

But it does not stop there. I have asked and cabinet has agreed to extend the consultancy to include a productivity audit of the public service. We simply cannot and should not reward poor performance or worse dishonesty in the delivery of service to the public who are paying for the service. The public deserve better and we promised them better.

We cannot and will not allow a few bad actors to spoil the reputation of the hardworking honest men and women of our civil service.

The same admonition I issue to public servants I issue to ministers and parliamentary colleagues who have also after almost twelve years receive an uplift in pay for the first time.

Also, it is socially unjust, inequitable, and unconscionable to ignore the need of our pensioners and recognize their service and the hardship they face in trying to live off of a pension that have been eroded by inflation.

In that regard the consultants will now turn to reviewing the pension of former civil servants with a mandate to have this completed by the end of the financial year with the intention of awarding a retro-active increase in pension effective December 1, 2023 – the same as the new pay arrangements for currently serving public servants.

And finally, my government have commissioned an actuarial review of vulnerable Turks and Caicos Islanders age 70 and over with the aim of purchasing an annuity to provide a guaranteed cost of living assistance of $1,000 monthly. The government will pay the NIB to administer this program which will become effective on April 1st 2024.

The government must no longer be the last resort in choice of employment. We have injected equality, equity and need in our remuneration structure and hope that our private sector partners will do the same.

My government is committed to empathy and compassion and a genuine commitment to build a safety net around the vulnerable and we are doing that as well.

No government in the history have done more to cater to the vulnerable of our society.