DLP President raises several questions about BOSS

A public service pay cut under the guise of cute phrases is how
President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), Verla DePeiza,
describes government’s proposed BOSS plan.

“Any time the default mode is to hand over less earnings than
bargained for, it is a pay cut. And it throws up several questions:
What time frame does a public servant have to indicate they wish their
full pay? Is there an appetite on the market to make these bonds
tradeable in more than theory, especially with at least one bank
already reporting dismal earnings in the first quarter?” she
questioned.

BOSS, which stands for the Barbados Optional Savings Scheme, will
result in a portion of public servants’ salaries being invested in
government bonds.

However, in a release titled “A rose by any other name is a pay cut”,
Depeiza argued that this is “not about a bond issue at all”.

Pointing to the presentation made by one of the consultants on the
Economic team, Dr. Kevin Greenidge, she spoke specifically on the
“out” given for public servants where it was stated that it did not
matter if one opts for the bonds or not, a bond will be issued in each
case.

“If you choose not to take the bonds, the government will still issue
the bonds but pay you your cash and it becomes as if you had traded
them to the Central Bank of Barbados. They get their bond issue
anyway. The books reflect that a salary reduction has taken place,
when in reality the salary potentially remains the same, but is
recorded in two separate line items. And think about it, if the bond
issue is so great why is it not pitched to the business and banking
classes, or even the wider public? Why are the contractors not being
paid in bonds – at least in part?”

In addition, the leader of the DLP insisted that the Barbados Economic
Recover Transformation (BERT) Programme is “dead in the water” and
needs to be reformulated.

“It is now a millstone about our necks, as it forces public sector
cuts in order to fund a capital works programme. The economy is in
need of rejuvenation, but short term capital works projects just keep
us spinning in one spot, when our economy really requires a deeper
type of stimulation and diversification,  Something this
administration seems incapable of achieving. What we have is a boss
pay cut,” she asserted