The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AFTER months of research, Robert Farquharson, deputy chairman of the National Tripartite Council, said the body has submitted its recommendations on the national minimum wage increase to the government.

However, the labour director did not want to say what the council had proposed.

He would only say the recommendation was a favourable one and that it would put smiles on the faces of many Bahamians.

“The National Tripartite Council has completed its recommendations and formally submitted to the government to increase the national minimum wage,” he said yesterday.

“That recommendation has been put in a Cabinet paper and it is expected to be discussed at Cabinet in the very near future.”

Currently, the national minimum wage is $210 per week while the minimum wage in the public sector is $238 per week.

The Progressive Liberal Party committed to increasing the country’s minimum wage to $250 per week during last year’s election campaign, as well as to examine the creation of a liveable wage.

 After assuming office, the Davis administration asked the NTC, the body responsible for all labour-related matters in The Bahamas, to study the issue and provide recommendations to the government.

 With recommendations having already been submitted last month, Mr Farquharson said the next step for the government will be widespread consultations with various stakeholders, including academic scholars and finance experts.

 “I can tell you definitively that the Minister of Labour and this government has indicated that before an announcement has been made on the minimum wage, they intend to go out for additional consultation,” he said.

“That will include a consultation with a number of stakeholders, including the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and the general public will have to be advised of what the recommendations are.

 “We want some views from academia. We also want some views from the major stakeholders – the Bahamas Financial Services Industry, the Bahamas Employer’s Association and a number of those employer organisations that represents persons within that sphere.”

 According to the labour director, there are approximately 340,000 men and women in the labour workforce.

 “We know that about approximately 25 per cent of those persons are impacted by the minimum wage,” he added, “and so before the government takes a decision, the government wants to ensure that there is additional widespread discussion and consultation so we expect in the very near future a number of town meetings to be held where we will invite members of the press and public to hear what the recommendations are. “

 “I will not say what the figure is. I can say specifically that the recommendation will put a smile on the face of many persons who fall within that category, and it will cause them to have greater buying power.”

 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.

 Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis recently said minimum wage is expected to increase before the end of the year.