Board orders pension cuts, studies Puerto Rico wage increase

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances is demanding cuts to the island’s crumbling public pension system and says it will consider raising the minimum wage if certain conditions are met.

The demands were outlined in various letters sent Wednesday to Gov. Ricardo Rossello. He has repeatedly rejected imposing a 10 per cent cut to pensions of more than $1,000 a month and is seeking to increase the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $8.25 by 2021.

The board also stated that mandatory vacation and sick leave should be immediately reduced to 14 days a year, and that a Christmas bonus should be made voluntary by 2019 as part of a proposed labour reform that Puerto Ricans have widely rejected.

Rossello is expected to respond via a televised address.