THE EDITOR: Politicians have a way of sometimes fooling the masses with simple language.

The Finance Minister recently indicated an increase of 20 per cent per litre for super gasoline and a 17.5 per cent increase per litre for premium gasoline.

He couched this in the language of an increase of $1 per litre. Not much, right?

If we did some simple maths, with due apologies to my maths teachers from yore, the reality is very different.

If, weekly, a car takes 40 litres of super gasoline to fill up, that is an extra cost of $40. In one year, this is an extra $2,080 that a driver will have to find.

People on fixed salaries will have to budget more deeply or drive less.

The price of diesel will increase by 50 cents per litre to $3.91. This is an approximate 15 per cent increase per litre.

It would be very interesting to see the adjustment on prices, in all industries, due to these increases.

Consider, as well, that the Government has timed this increase for maximum effect. It will happen on the day when primary and secondary schools reopen, for students in all classes, after the Easter vacation.

Public servants should not hold their collective breaths for any salary increase given the recent Industrial Court ruling on a T&TEC case.

In February, the court decided that T&TEC workers would not get a salary increase for 2015-2017. The Government did not respond to the OWTU's offer of a 12 per cent pay rise.

The court reasoned that a prior year increase would create a significant financial burden on the company and possible job losses.

It is most interesting that one of the judges in the T&TEC case was Vincent Cabrera, a former long-standing president of the Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU).

In May 2012, Cabrera was successful in getting a 33 per cent wage increase for employees of the Public Services Credit Union for 2009-2012.

By the way, do Cabinet ministers still get a travelling allowance of $6,660 a month? That certainly would help with any gas price increase.

LINUS F DIDIER

Mt Hope