By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday dampened union hopes for an imminent minimum wage increase while pledging that the Government would be “fair” to businesses over any rise.

Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour and the public service, told the Abaco Business Outlook conference that the Davis administration would “act responsibly” when any recommendation for a minimum wage hike - or even the implementation of a livable wage - was placed before it.

But, while promising that the Government would adopt a balanced approach that “protects businesses and job growth”, she reiterated that the process for increasing the present $260 per week minimum wage has yet to be triggered because no recommendation for this has been submitted by the National Tripartite Council.

Mrs Glover-Rolle, in what appeared to be a response to renewed demands from Obie Ferguson KC, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, for the minimum wage to be increased to $350 per week - a $90 or 34.6 percent hike - said: “Recently you will also have heard, and I know the business community’s ears were tuned to this, calls for another minimum wage increase.

“I want to be clear about how this works. The Government follows a process, and that process begins with the National Tripartite Council.” The Council is the body created to deal with all labour-related matters in The Bahamas, and features representatives from the trade unions (labour), employers and the Government. Any formal recommendation for a minimum wage rise has to first come from the Council.

“We have not yet received any recommendation regarding a wage increase, or minimum wage increase or a livable wage from the National Tripartite Council,” Mrs Glover-Rolle added. “But, when we do, the Government intends to act responsibly, as always, with increasing wages while protecting businesses, while protecting job growth, while protecting the economic survivability of businesses.

“We believe in fairness, but not just to our workers; [also] to you, our business owners, who do your best to keep your businesses afloat.” Mr Ferguson has repeatedly justified his calls for another minimum wage rise on the basis that $260 per week is simply not enough for Bahamians, especially those with families, to survive given the significant post-COVID increase in the cost of living.

However, business owners have countered that they are suffering from the same cost hikes and pressures, with soaring electricity costs, new and increased fees and expanding bureaucratic ‘red tape’ all contributing to squeezed profit margins and a struggle for many to remain commercially viable.

Pressure to switch from the minimum wage to a so-called ‘livable wage’ was ignited by a University of The Bahamas study, published in September 2020, which calculated that the monthly ‘living wage’ on New Providence was $2,625 while that for Grand Bahama was pegged at $3,550 per month. The Government, though, has thus far yet to formally take up the reports findings.

Mrs Glover-Rolle, meanwhile, while touting an 8.7 percent national unemployment rate as the lowest for 18 years, nevertheless conceded that the jobless rate among young Bahamians remains too high and many are “unemployable” because they lack the basic skills employers are seeking.

“We spoke about the unemployment level being in the single digits, but our youth unemployment is still not where we need it to be because too many young people struggle to find and keep jobs,” the minister said. “I want to reiterate jobs are available, and people are looking, and maybe it’s no lack of potential but it’s lack of preparedness; the unemployability factor.

“Employers tell us the same thing, and the Department of Labour, consistently. They want to hire, but too many applicants lack the basic skills.” Describing the problem as “a skills gap” for Bahamians aged between 15 to 24 years-old, Mrs Glover-Rolle said the Government was launching various initiatives to tackle the problem under the umbrella of a ‘National Skills Agenda’.

She revealed that the long-awaited National Apprenticeship Programme, in its launch phase, has “pivoted” from focusing solely on the maritime sector’s training needs to a 50/50 split with construction after the Government received feedback from the business community. The initiative will be expanded to industries such as hospitality, information technology (IT) and renewable energy.

Mrs Glover-Rolle also disclosed that a separate training programme, known as the Bahamas Polytechnic Accredited Training Hub (BPATH) is due to launch imminently in a bid “to integrate certification into the high school curriculum”. She added that this will see high school students spend part of their week immersed in BPATH “so that as they matriculate out they are already accredited, certified and job ready”.

The minister urged Bahamians to focus on developing a career path, rather than see work as simply a job. She added that young workers, in particular, should look beyond minimum wage jobs and determine where they want to be in terms of their career in 15-20 years’ time.

“We also hear a lot of banter about the minimum wage,” Mrs Glover-Rolle said. “We want to encourage persons the minimum wage is designed to be the level at which you access employment on a basic entry level; unskilled.....

“The minimum wage should not be for all; it should be for a small percentage. Young people matriculating out of high school, persons who may be shifting in the job market and need to learn a new skill, but the minimum wage should be rock bottom. It should be ground level. It should not be where you are in 15, 20, 30 years into your career. That is the mindset we have to encourage in our citizens and workforce.”