Ashok Subron: “A stab at local workers”

“Enn bidze bien grav”, which “will remain in the annals of the country’s history”, according to Ashok Subron. He criticizes the “dangerous shift”, particularly at the level of Mauritian youth and local workers: “Se enn koud pwanyar dore dan ledo bannn travayer ek lazenes morisienn. » Rezistans ek Alternativ was at a press conference this Saturday, June 8, to comment on the 2024-25 Budget, presented the day before by the Minister of Finance.

According to Ashok Subron, the 2024-25 Budget will further push Mauritian workers to leave the country to make way for foreign workers, whose recruitment procedures have been relaxed. For him, the amendments made to the Workers Rights Act will mainly be in favor of employers, because they will not have to undergo the same constraints as with Mauritian employees. “This budget aims to subject workers and young professionals to a new servitude by putting them in direct competition with foreign professionals who will come to work in Mauritius very easily,” he comments.

Ashok Subron also says he is disappointed that the Minister of Finance has not announced anything on the salary readjustment expected for several months already, in order to bring more justice between the different groups and categories of workers. If the minimum wage is a good thing for employees, salary readjustment is nevertheless important, he emphasizes. “Instead of a salary readjustment, the government opted for the payment of ‘CSG allowances’ which are temporary allowances, like the guaranteed minimum wage,” he says.

The CSG Allowance, he adds, can be abolished next year. “MSM pe dir ki si vot li, kapav pou etann sa ek sirtou li fer konpran ki bann alokasion ki pe done li pa ennn drwa”, hence the reason why these are not integrated into the basic salary of employees.

For his part, Kugan Parapen believes that the Minister of Finance is like a horse wearing blinders. According to him, he does not see the entire Mauritian population. “He only sees those at the bottom of the ladder and the middle class, but not the ultra-rich and the wealthy, whether in terms of salary or wealth,” he laments.

All the largesse announced by Minister Padayachy, such as pension increases and other social benefits, will be financed by members of the same family living under the same roof through indirect taxes such as VAT (see page 6) and petroleum products which are heavily taxed, he points out. “We have the impression that he undresses Paul to dress Pierre, except that Paul and Pierre live in the same house,” says Kugan Parapen. And to emphasize that if the government returns to power, there will be “more of the same” of the model recommended by the Minister of Finance.