GUERNSEY has been urged to follow Jersey and introduce a minimum wage. Transport and General Workers’ Union regional organiser Alun Beynon said it would provide a safety net for the lower-paid.

Jersey plans next April to introduce a minimum of £5.08 per hour and a trainee and youth rate of £3.82.

But the Guernsey Hotel and Tourism Association and the Guernsey Growers’ Association have concerns about introducing that locally.

Mr Beynon had no such doubts. ‘We believe that a minimum wage would benefit the island.

‘We have seen how its implementation in the UK has been a success. Business groups, including the CBI, said that it would cause a loss of jobs but not a single job has been lost.

‘While I can’t point to any of our members who earn less than Jersey’s recommended figure, I have anecdotal evidence that people in the tourist and agriculture industries are.’

He said that a higher figure could be needed here.

‘Our representatives in Jersey believe that £5.08 is too low and I believe that figure would be too low for Guernsey. But I think there is a view in the island that any minimum wage would be a bad idea.

‘First of all we need to crack the principle and talk seriously about introducing a minimum wage. Only once it is on the agenda can we begin to discuss the possible level.’

Mr Beynon said that the recent cost of living survey showed that low-earners in Guernsey were worse off than their counterparts in the UK and needed more support.

A minimum wage was an important part of an anti-poverty package.

Industry representatives said that it was not necessary because of existing, informal wage structures in the sectors.

‘The local wage rates in the hotel and catering sector are in line with the minimum in the UK,’ said Ghata president Carl Symes.

‘I don’t believe that we need a local minimum wage because, in our sector, there is already effectively a minimum wage. There are very few problems with this system and we have our own arrangements for deductions.’

GGA president David Miller had reservations about government interference.

‘The GGA recommends wages that our members should pay their employees and this varies according to skills and qualifications. In most cases, growers will pay more than the recommended rate,’ he said.

‘In the companies with which I am associated guest workers also get the same terms and conditions as local workers.

‘There will always be a few employers who try to take advantage of workers but these are the small minority.

‘I have some reservations about a minimum wage approach. People should be paid a decent wage according to their skills and qualifications and there should be no discrimination but I am not happy at the government proposing wage rates across the whole

economy.’

The former Board of Industry had been monitoring the situation.

‘This is something we continue to monitor. If there appeared to be a need for a minimum wage it is something we would consider,’ said a spokesman from the Commerce and Employment Department.

‘We said we would look at the possibility of a minimum wage and invited employees to come to us so we could gauge opinion on the need for such a measure. But we have only had three calls from people who felt that their wages were too low.’

In the UK the minimum wage is due to rise from £4.50 to £4.85 from 1 October. The development wage, for workers 18-21, will rise from £3.80 to £4.10, and a 16-17-year-old rate of £3 will be introduced.

The Jersey proposal was drawn up after consultation with workers, employees and union officials.

Employment Committee president Senator Paul Routier said about 2,000 people, mainly in horticulture, tourism and retail, were currently earning less than the proposed minimum wage.

Different rules applied when accommodation and food were provided as part of the package.