By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

UNION leaders are pushing back against the Davis administration’s explanation for the rise in unemployment to 10.8 percent in the first quarter of 2025, accusing officials of downplaying the scale of the problem.

Bahamas National Alliance Trade Union Congress president Belinda Wilson called the surge in joblessness “deeply concerning,” noting that nearly 26,000 people were out of work between January and March, almost 9,000 more than at the end of last year.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has defended his administration amid the latest figures, attributing them to seasonal factors and more Bahamians entering the workforce.

Youth unemployment remains the most pressing issue, with 20.9 percent of people aged 15 to 24 jobless, according to Bahamas National Statistical Institute data. Ms Wilson said this demands a national strategy. “These statistics show that there is an urgency for major programmes that are able to accommodate hundreds if not thousands of youth simultaneously,” she said.

While Labour Minister Pia Glover-Rolle pointed to apprenticeship and training programmes, Ms Wilson insisted these are too limited to make a difference. She urged stronger collaboration between the government, tertiary institutions and industry, along with more robust enforcement of the Bahamianisation policy. “This policy specified that a non-Bahamian who is granted a work permit for a limited time must have a Bahamian understudy,” she said.

Trade Union Congress president Obie Ferguson was more blunt, claiming foreign workers are squeezing Bahamians out of jobs. “We have about 31,000 work permits. We have a population of, what, half a million. You don’t think something wrong with that?” he asked.

Past BNSI data showed more than 14,000 new work permits were issued in 2024, the majority to men. Bahamas Contractors Association president Leonard Sands has also warned that thousands of permits are for unskilled roles such as handyman and general labour, even as young Bahamians struggle to find work.