News item | 20-05-2022 | 4:00 pm
State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (Kingdom Relations) wants to give the countries room to stop cutting their salary by 12.5%. The salary cut was introduced in mid-2020 in response to the corona pandemic as a sign of solidarity towards the market and to reduce the countries’ government spending. Now that the costs for ordinary life are increasing, the 12.5% salary discount must be reconsidered, the State Secretary believes.
State Secretary Van Huffelen: “Recently, the costs of ordinary life have risen enormously, partly due to the war in Ukraine. Many people struggle with high costs of, for example, food and rent. Now that the economy is picking up again, the requirement to cut salary by 12.5% no longer outweighs those costs. In addition, recruiting staff is becoming increasingly difficult, while good staff is of great importance. With this I want to give the drivers room to abolish the 12.5% at their own pace.”
The most important condition for abolishing the 12.5% salary discount at our own pace is that earlier agreements on standardizing top incomes must be realized and the salary cuts for politicians continue to exist. The abolition of the 12.5% will be discussed during the Kingdom Council of Ministers on 25 May.
State Secretary Van Huffelen (Kingdom Relations) will be in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom next week. From Monday 23 May to Friday 27 May she will travel to Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten to meet residents, entrepreneurs, volunteers and social organizations and to listen to their dreams and concerns.