President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Dr Ronnie Yearwood is calling on the Government to give public servants a pay increase in the New Year, as he accused the Mia Mottley-led administration of failing to address the needs of the working class.He said with Barbadians struggling to cope with the rising cost of living that seems to be spiralling out of control, a five to seven per cent pay rise would be fitting and would not break the bank.“Everything has gone up. People need more money in their hands. The reality is, folks are struggling to make ends meet and they need extra cash to survive. I think we have just come off the back of Independence and I believe we are entering the Christmas season and I think it is time that we can seriously call for an increase in wages,” he told Barbados TODAY during a DLP event in St Lucy on Friday.“Now this is something that I believe the Government has to do given the cost of living crisis, given the rise in inflation and given the fact that many people are working poor…. They are working but they are still unable to make ends meet. The prices of everything have gone up but wages have stayed still and stagnant in some cases and your earning capacity has decreased.”
