03/06/2026
THE PENSION DOUBLE STANDARD IN TRINIDAD & TOBAGO NEEDS TO STOP
Politicians are living lavishly off the wealth of the land whilst they continue to berate us to work harder and force us to work longer. The SRC disproportionately suggest increases in the pensions of parliamentarians and 600+ of the most senior public servants in the land, but nobody advocates for ordinary Trinbagonians many of whom are lucky to earn a living wage or have their NIS paid by employers leading themnatbrisj of poverty in retirement.
"TIRED OF PROMISES: Retired teachers display placards outside the Ministry of Education in St Clair yesterday. The group was PROTESTING THE DELAYS IN THE DISBURSEMENT OF PENSIONS.
I write on behalf of the THOUSANDS OF WORKING MEN AND WOMEN of Trinidad and Tobago who spent their entire productive lives contributing to the National Insurance Scheme, only to RETIRE ON A MINIMUM PENSION OF $3,000 PER MONTH.
Three thousand dollars. That is WHAT A LIFETIME OF WORK IS WORTH in this country.
Now let us look at WHAT IS A LIFETIME IN POLITICS IS WORTH.
A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT WHO SERVES A SINGLE FIVE-YEAR TERM walks away with a MONTHLY PENSION OF APPROXIMATELY $20,515.
A LONG-SERVING MP OR MINISTER—someone who may have served 18 years or more—RETIRES ON $60,050 PER MONTH, A FIGURE THAT INCREASES AUTOMATICALLY every time the Salaries Review Commission grants a raise to sitting parliamentarians. They do not even have to be present in the legislature for their pension to grow. IT GROWS WHILE THEY SLEEP.
And at the very top sits THE FORMER PRIME MINISTER IS ENTITLED under the Prime Minister’s Pension Act TO A MONTHLY PENSION EQUAL TO THE FULL SALARY OF THE SITTING PRIME MINISTER—currently in the region of $88,000 PER MONTH. That pension, too, RISES AUTOMATICALLY WITH EVERY SRC REVIEW. It is, in effect, A LIFETIME GUARANTEE OF WEALTH, FUNDED ENTIRELY BY THE TAXPAYER.
A RETIRED PRIME MINISTER COLLECTS approximately 29 TIMES THE PENSION OF THE ORDINARY NIS CONTRIBUTOR.
A ONE-TERM MP—someone who served just five years—COLLECTS NEARLY SEVEN TIMES WHAT THE FACTORY WORKER, THE NURSE’S AIDE, THE MARKET VENDOR RECEIVES AFTER A LIFETIME OF MANDATORY CONTRIBUTIONS.
And lest we forget: AN MP WHO RUNS FOR RE-ELECTION AND IS REJECTED by the very electorate they served is ENTITLED TO A GRATUITY OF SIX MONTHS’ emoluments “TO ADJUST TO THEIR NEW LIFE”.
THE ORDINARY WORKER RECEIVES NO SUCH CUSHION.
THEY RECEIVE $3,000 AND ARE EXPECTED TO SURVIVE ON IT.
It is worth noting that Parliament did recently act on the Prime Minister’s Pension Act. When the shoe pinched a colleague, reform came swiftly. It has never come with such urgency for the pensioner collecting $3,000 a month.
This is not a partisan observation. Governments of every stripe—PNM AND UNC ALIKE—HAVE PRESIDED OVER AND BENEFITED FROM THIS ARRANGEMENT.
THE LAWS GOVERNING PARLIAMENTARY PENSIONS WERE NOT WRITTEN BY ACCIDENT. THEY WERE WRITTEN BY PARLIAMENTARIANS, FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS, WITH LITTLE REGARD FOR THE CITIZENS WHO FUND THEM.
We are a nation that speaks loudly about EQUALITY, HARD WORK, AND DIGNITY. But OUR PENSION SYSTEM TELLS A VERY A VERY DIFFERENT STORY - one in which those who make the laws exempt themselves from the indignities those laws visit upon everyone else.
The FINANCE MINISTER has rightly WARNED THAT THE NIS FUND FACES COLLAPSE WITHIN A DECADE and has announced painful reforms: higher contribution rates, a rising retirement age.
WORKING PEOPLE ARE BEING ASKED TO CONTRIBUTE MORE AND WAIT LONGER TO RECEIVE A PENSION. That may well be necessary. But it is UNCONSCIONABLE TO DEMAND SACRIFICE FROM THE MANY WHILE THE FEW CONTINUE TO DRAW PENSIONS THAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED EXTRAORDINARY IN ANY DEVELOPED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
I CALL ON THE GOVERNMENT to URGENTLY review the Parliamentary Pension Act and the Prime Minister’s Pension Act; TO CAP ALL POLITICAL PENSIONS AT A REASONABLE AND TRANSPARENT MULTIPLE OF THE NIS MINIMUM; and to INDEX NIS PENSIONS TO INFLATION SO THAT OUR RETIREES CAN LIVE WITH DIGNITY—NOT MERELY EXIST.
The measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable. Right now, we are failing that test—and every pensioner collecting $3,000 a month feels that failure every single day."
Denise Demming
26 May 2026
https://trinidadexpress.com/opinion/letters/the-pension-double-standard/article_e86740a2-8a4e-446f-aba5-f3460fe2f42c.html
