The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

and YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporters

THE National Tripartite Council will “definitely be looking” at a potential minimum wage increase, its vice-chair said yesterday, after the Government requested that it study the matter.

Peter Goudie, who represents employer interests on the body charged with addressing all labour-related matters in The Bahamas, told Tribune Business that the Council will likely form a committee to research the minimum wage issue when it meets on December 14, 20121.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), in its election campaign manifesto, pledged to raise the private sector minimum wage by 19 percent - increasing it from $210 to $250 per week. “He’s asked us to take a look at it,” Mr Goudie said of the Prime Minister, “and we will take a look at it.

“We haven’t formed a committee yet. That will happen on December 14, when we have a National Tripartite Council meeting to set the agenda for the next three years. We’ll definitely be looking at the minimum wage. That’s what they want. We will form a committee and do the research on it.

“We’ll decide our priorities on December 14 and go from there. We have to look at what we’re going to do tomorrow, what we’re going to do a year from now, that kind of stuff. We’re moving.” Mr Goudie said yesterday’s Decent Country Work Programme (DCWP) signing had “all been very positive, and there was lots of support. It was all wonderful”.

The minimum wage was last increased by 40 percent in 2015 by the former Christie administration, which took it from $150 per week to $210 per week in the wake of Value-Added Tax’s (VAT) introduction.

While another increase would raise incomes for the lowest wage earners in Bahamian society, and thus help to somewhat offset the impact of rising inflation on the most vulnerable families, a minimum wage hike can come with unintended consequences.

For it increases employers’ marginal employment costs and, if raised too high, could disincentivise companies from hiring young, low-skilled labour at a time when the economy needs every job it can get in trying to recover from COVID-19.

Philip Davis QC, the Prime Minister, speaking at the Memorandum of Understanding’s (MoU) signing, said: “I’m extremely pleased to advise that my government and the National Tripartite Council have finalised the national policy on labour relations.”

Part of this policy includes the adoption of the DWCP. Mr Davis added: “There will also be the adoption of a child labour policy. The application of ILO Convention 159.” ILO 159 is the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) vocational rehabilitation and employment for disabled persons convention.

“There will be the establishment of the national productivity council, the enactment of legislation to establish a livable wage, and a comprehensive review of the minimum wage and an increase in the national minimum wage,” the Prime Minister said, although he gave no figure on what the latter will be increased to.

Mr Davis also promised to enhance the Industrial Tribunal to make its decision more binding and final. The Tribunal’s rulings still need be taken to the Supreme Court for enforcement, which can end up costing parties thousands of dollars in extra legal fees.

The Prime Minister added: “In preparation for the development of The Bahamas’ second generation DWCP, the Ministry of Labour in conjunction with the National Tripartite Council and the ILO Decent Work team will be focusing on consulting with their partners and their social partners, and other national and regional stakeholders, to ensure the widest public consultation process to develop the second generation DCWP.”