KINGSTON, Jamaica — A fair minimum wage for some Jamaicans would be in the region of $12,000, a figure which was today suggested by several social media users, who responded to a Facebook post by Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw.

Shaw asked: What do you think is a fair minimum wage?

“Honestly I think $12,000 a week should do. After tax we Jamaican(s) can afford to buy food, find bus fare, find school money for our children and still save a little out of it. Do you know how hard it is to survive off $6500, $7500 and $8000 a week?” a respondent to Shaw’s question said, echoing the sentiments of several other respondents on the thread.

However, another suggestion was that $10,000 weekly is a reasonable amount. “It is a fair amount in my opinion, I don’t think as a country we should price people out of a job because if the minimum wage is too high a lot of people will lose their jobs and if it is too low them n their family suffer so I thing $10,000.00 weekly is a reasonable amount,” the Facebook user commented.

While others welcomed the move by the minister to seek input from the public, one respondent urged the Government to find an objective method of determining an appropriate wage.

“We need a more objective way to determine what’s the minimum wage to pay, and when that is determined, tag it to inflation so it moves automatically after a year. Let the PIOJ determine the nominal expenses for an average Jamaican family and recommend a liveable wage,” the respondent commented.

Shaw’s question came on the heels of consultations currently being undertaken to implement a new national minimum wage, as well as new minimum rates for industrial security guards.

The consultations commenced this afternoon at the Montego Bay Civic Centre in Sam Sharpe Square, St James.

Today’s consultation was used as a means to attract business and trade union interests in the second city, as well as workers, especially industrial security guards who usually depend on the new minimum rates for movement in their salaries.

The consultations are being led by the National Minimum Wage Advisory Commission.

The current national minimum wage of $6,200 for a 40-hour workweek, or $155 per hour, was announced in January 2016. But it became effective on March 1 that year, based on a 10.71 per cent increase granted by the commission.

In addition, the NMWAC increased the minimum rates for private security guards to $8,854 for a 40-hour workweek, or $221.35 per hour. The security guards also received an increase in their insurance coverage from $2 million to $2.5 million.