Senators Peyrefitte and Smith Object to Salary Cuts

Michael Peyrefitte

The public sector emoluments and allowances reduction bill 2021 went before the senate today.  You’ll recall that last week Friday, cabinet began the motions to make the cuts effective on June first.  U.D.P. Senator Michael Peyrefitte and Senator for the Unions, Elena Smith strongly opposed the bill.

Michael Peyrefitte, U.D.P. Senator

“Madam President, how can I support a bill that cuts my pay? I see that national assembly we already have an already massive monthly salary of nine hundred dollars and it is going to be slashed. I cannot in good spirit with the hard work that we put in and my fellow senators agree to such a bill.  The U.D.P. doesn’t accept that we need to cut people’s pay and don’t think that is in the best interest of the economy at this time. We believe that he Taiwanese have pledged over eighty million dollars to help with budgetary expenses which is the same amount of money that the government wants to cut. How do you tell people who have been in the system a long time ago and you are now adding Court of Appeal judges who will come with vehicles, salaries, offices, secretaries?  When you take out a piece of legislation and you cut everybody except the magistrates and the judges, I have to say that the magistrates and the judges will tell you themselves that they are assisted to a very large extent by these very same people. So, you are cutting these people’s pay and asking them to do more work.”

Elena Smith

Elena Smith, Senator for the Unions

“Madam President, if it were that we were in such a bad state then we would not see the type of hiring that we are seeing and the type of spending that we are seeing. It is unfair to expect us, the persons to be most affected by this cut, because yes you can say the Minister are being cut too but we are being cut by fifteen percent and they are being cut by ten percent; but ten percent of my salary means a whole lot because I have no other allowance that I can fall back on. So, it means that my family will be in a worse position that some persons who will be able to fall back on some allowances.”