The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The $2,625-$3,550 livable wage suggested by a University of the Bahamas study “cannot be implemented at this time”, a trade union leader argued yesterday, adding: “We’ve got to keep the hen that lays the eggs.”

Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, told Tribune Business that the economy’s fragile recovery from COVID-19 meant that such a hike in worker earnings could not be introduced in one shot given the immense disruption it would threaten to cause.

Speaking after Keith Bell, minister of labour and Immigration, yesterday said the Davis administration remained committed to replacing the minimum wage with a so-called livable wage, Mr Ferguson acknowledged that while the trade unions also remain committed to the concept any such reform must be phased-in to ensure “a win-win” for employers and workers alike.

While the minimum wage is presently “very far apart” from the monthly livable variety recommended by University of The Bahamas (UoB) researchers, Mr Ferguson suggested their findings represented a benchmark that the country must ultimately aim for.

“That’s something that cannot be implemented in The Bahamas at this point in time,” the TUC chief told this newspaper. “We have to look at it and use it as a guide, but find something that’s a medium and workable for all parties. It’s not a one-way street. We want to work in the best interests of all the parties, all the players....

“We want to make sure that the $ remains the $, and make sure the economy is well. We’ve got to keep the hen that is laying the eggs. It the hen is not around to lay the eggs, nothing happens. We’ve been very fortunate. COVID has not gone, but certainly it has become manageable. We have to give God thanks and do what we need to do as a people.

“If we put aside vested interests and personal agendas, as we try to rebuild what we have, the only way we will be able to do that is if capital and labour co-exist.”

The UoB study, dated September 30, 2020, and authored by Lesvie Archer, Olivia Saunders, Bridget Hogg, Vijaya Permual and Brittney Johnson, concluded that a living wage in New Providence and Grand Bahama is $2,625 and $3,550 per month respectively.

“Our gross living wage estimate for New Providence is 26 percent lower than the Grand Bahama living wage estimate, nearly 200 percent higher than the national minimum wage, 127 percent higher than 2013 poverty line and nearly 75 percent higher than the minimum wage hike proposed by a local union,” they wrote.

“Our living wage estimate for Grand Bahama is nearly 300 percent higher than the living wage, 200 percent higher than the 2013 poverty line and 140 percent higher than the minimum wage hike proposed by a local union.” The Bahamas’ private sector minimum wage, last increased following VAT’s introduction in 2015, is currently $210 a week.

Mr Ferguson, pointing out that the commitment to introducing a livable wage was part of the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP ) accord struck with the TUC and National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas (NCTUB) prior to the September 2021 general election, said the labour movement intended to work with the Government to achieve this objective.

However, he warned that determining the amount of any living wage would have to be based on empirical data and research. And some worker groups may have to wait for such promises to be fulfilled based on the state of the economy and their industry.

“We’re very cognisant of the state of the economy, and want to work with the Government and, in some cases, the employer to hammer out something sustainable and reasonable to all parties,” Mr Ferguson told Tribune Business. “I’m certain we’ll come up with something that’s a win-win situation for all players.

“But we know we have people who are not able to sustain their families, and that’s a factor we have to look at because the living wage is where we can reasonably satisfy a family of four.... A country owes its citizens a living or livable wage, and that is something we all must work towards.

“We’re not saying it has to be this today. What we do is gradually work towards it. There is a gradual process we should go through to make this fundamental change, but we have to take everything into consideration. It’s critically important all players are part of that process so that all ideas are put in the pot.”