An MHK has questioned why the Chamber of Commerce is now calling for rejection of a way to calculate the minimum wage that it backed earlier this summer.
Lawrie Hooper wrote on his Twitter (X) account that he and other members of Tynwald had received the letter from Chamber which it said was signed on behalf of 340 organisations.
Addressing the letter, Mr Hooper said: “Just received an email from the Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce lobbying against the minimum wage increase*
“*an increase using a formula they supported because they opposed the living wage amount.”
The Chamber very publicly called on Tynwald to change the calculation earlier this year, while expressing concerns about the use of public sector pay in the calculations when the minimum wage was set.
Unfounded?
Mr Hooper was challenged by other users on this and whether the concerns of businesses, such as those in hospitality, were “unfounded”.
He replied: “I assume they had those same concerns when they supported the governments proposal to ditch the living wage and change the minimum wage methodology?
“Unless things have radically changed in the last couple of months?”
Challenged again on the concerns of these businesses, Mr Hooper conceded “there is some merit & I believe govt should have support in place to help businesses transition (but they don’t because this govt are inept)”.
He added: “But they’ve had nearly 5 years notice of this coming & equally those concerns existed when they supported abandoning the living wage.
“It’s almost like they lobbied to abandon the living wage because this new model meant slightly lower wages & having achieved that they now want to lower the minimum wage even further.
“If I was a cynic I may even believe they would do this….”
You can read the full exchange below: