"ABSOLUTE TRIPE! Rubbish!"

This is how Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Clyde Mascoll, has described Opposition Leader David Thompson's declaration that some women are earning a meagre $90 weekly in local industries.

Pointing out this wage amounted to $2.25 per hour over 40 hours, Mascoll said in the House of Assembly yesterday: "There is no Barbadian who would even consider leaving home to work for $2.25 per hour at this time in our history."

Thompson's claim was "rubbish in every sense of the word", "absolute tripe", and something not worth commenting on, he said.

The Opposition Leader spoke about low wages two weeks ago when Parliament started debating a resolution on the Industrial Policy For Barbados Manufacturing And Related Services Sector 2007-2012.

He charged that Government's lofty policies were at variance with everyday reality, as reflected in those low wages.

But Mascoll, speaking just before the debate concluded yesterday, said that "as far back as the '70s, Barbadians were working for more than that in the manufacturing sector".

He wanted to know what would explain the $90 figure "30 years on", when there had been "so much growth and development of the economy".

"It can't happen," he stated. "In fact, it would be a very poor reflection on the unions if in today's Barbados a person can still be working for $2.25 per hour . . . .

"Certainly, we have not had weak trade unions in Barbados. In fact, our trade unionists have been fairly militant and have certainly fought for [pay] increases for our people." (TY)

Please see more House reports on Pages 21A and 22A.