The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A trade union leader yesterday praised the increased $210 private sector minimum wage proposal as “a good start”, while admitting he would have preferred $250 per week.

John Pinder, the Bahamas Public Services Union’s (BPSU) president, told Tribune Business of the move: “It’s a start, and a pretty good start, recognising the private sector’s still trying to rebound from a recession.

“It’s still not sufficient; I would have liked to see at least $250, but I think the $210 is certainly a good jump from $150. It’s a good start.”

Shane Gibson, in announcing the increase in the House of Assembly, said the National Tripartite Council - featuring union, government and private sector representatives - had agreed to recommend a 40 per cent minimum wage increase to $210.

Mr Pinder’s preferred $250 would have been a 66.7 per cent rise, and he said yesterday that the Government should look at taking the private sector minimum wage to that level next year.

He expressed hope that the Christie administration would raise the public sector minimum wage to $250 per week come July 2015, with a further rise to $300 by next year.

The BPSU chief also called upon the Government to reduce the ‘red tape’ and bureaucracy facing the private sector, and lower the likes of Business Licence fees and real property taxes, so businesses were not tempted to lay-off workers following the minimum wage rise.

“I believe the Government should remove some of the burden off the private sector, release some of the load,” Mr Pinder told Tribune Business.

He then urged the Government to ‘regularise’ the workers set to be allocated to the newly-created Public Parks and Beaches Authority, a number of whom protested outside the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday.

Mr Pinder said those involved “still don’t know their future”, and had been waiting up to 12 years to be placed on the public sector payroll, rather than maintained as contract workers.

“Every time they get close to being regularised, they’re switched to different departments and ministries, which causes them to now be in limbo again,” he explained.

Mr Pinder said yesterday’s protest was born of “frustration” at not being upgraded from ‘contract worker’ status, as those affected wait to be transferred to the new Authority.

The BPSU said many had initially worked for the Department of Environmental Health Services at the New Providence landfill, but had been moved from there to the Ministry of Works when Renew Bahamas took over landfill operations.

Now they face being moved again, without enjoying any of the public service benefits, as the Public Parks and Beaches Authority comes under the Ministry of the Environment and Housing.

“We hope the Government will address this expeditiously,” Mr Pinder said.