Paget's Belize Journal

The Preliminary Trip - It Begins - First days - A tourist trip - Flying, sand crabs - San Pedro 1 - San Pedro 2 - Braids, snakes, dogs - Leaving Dangriga The Actual Stay - Help for library - Books; departure - Arrival; weather - Sensations, housing - Security, more housing - More security, snorkeling - Dock activities - Day-to-day life 1 - Day-to-day life 2 - The Quadrille - The apartment! - Cleaning and culture - Hurricane Irene - Too much reality - Hopkins Village 1 - Hopkins Village 2 - Weather - Minimum wage - Transportation - Food Experiments - The Brits; furniture - Meeting and greeting - Night noise, Settlement Day - Dragonflies! - More noise - A good 19th - Wrapping up the 19th - Traveling to Mexico - Thanksgiving in Mexico - Cockscomb Basin - A Belizean week-end - Tobacco Caye - Is it really Christmas? - This is the life - Christmas wishes - Headwear - Christmas Experiences - Lottery - Caye Caulker haircut - Caye Caulker 2 - Geckos - Red Bank - The last few days		Oct 23, 1999 Minimum Wage I know it's foolish to comment on politics or the economy in a foreign country without a *whole lot* more exposure than I've had, so I won't. Just read this news story and keep in mind they are talking Belize dollars which are $.50 US. That makes the minimum wage 87-1/2 cents. A cheap hotel room is still US $25, and a bottle of local beer is US $1.50. Women call for equal minimum wage Women's Issues Network of Belize has embarked on a campaign to have a single minimum wage apply to all categories of jobs. The network contends that currently, the minimum wage for manual work is $2.25 per hour, but several categories of jobs which are dominated my women, such as shop assistants and domestic workers, have a minimum wage of $1.75 per hour. "The minimum wage for everyone, and especially for domestic workers and shop assistants, should be enough to meet a basic minimum cost of living... there should be a single, adequate minimum wage across all sectors." WIN further calls for minimum wages to be increased annually to reflect increases in the cost of living, with an independent monitoring body to ensure that the minimum wage is being implemented. Pointing out that the unemployment for women is twice as high as it is for men (women 21.3% men 10.6%), WIN said that it is often easier for employers to take advantage of women, and thus, it falls on the government to ensure that women are protected. "The minimum wage should protect people from employers who would exploit them," WIN said. "It is supposed to set a level below which people should not be expected to work." Next