By NEIL HARTNELL
TRIBUNE Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A TRADE union leader is urging the Government to put a minimum wage increase on “the next House of Assembly agenda”, arguing that it is “not humanly possible” for a Bahamian family to live on $260 per week.
Obie Ferguson KC, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, told Tribune Business that with gas prices standing at a maximum $7.50 per gallon presently, a family with children could easily spend up to $100 of that $260 - more than 38 percent of the weekly minimum wage - on filling up the car for school runs and to get to work.
He called for a minimum wage increase to be implemented “urgently, urgently”, and not wait for the National Tripartite Council, the body featuring employers, union and government representatives, and which deals with all labour-related matters in The Bahamas, to deliberate and consult over such a move.
Mr Ferguson also renewed his and the TUC’s demand for the minimum wage to be raised to $350 per week, representing a $90 or 34.6 percent jump compared to the present $260, which was implemented less than four years ago on January 1, 2023. He added that any increase would further boost consumption and aggregate demand through greater consumer spending.
However, Mark A Turnquest, founder of the 242 Small Business Association and Resource Centre, and a well-known consultant to the sector, warned the Government against listening solely to the trade unions on the minimum wage issue as “they will kill us to pieces” if their proposals are not checked.
He argued that such an increase, which will raise the cost of hiring and employment costs in industries where the minimum entry-level wage is prevalent, such as hotels, gas stations, restaurants and retail, should not be imposed before January 1, 2028 - and only after long and thorough consultation covering “from Abaco in the north to Inagua in the south”.
Describing small businesses as the true “grassroots”, responsible for driving job creation and the wider Bahamian economy, he added that any minimum wage hike also represents a “double whammy” for those employers impacted by raising National Insurance Board (NIB) contributions for those receiving such pay.
Both men spoke out after Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour, public service and National Insurance, told last week’s Exuma Business Outlook that a minimum wage increase is “highly likely in the near future” and that the issue is already being studied by the National Tripartite Council. She added that a “wage-setting Council” may also be created to handle the issue moving forward.
Mr Ferguson, while backing Mrs Glover-Rolle’s pledge, also urged the Government to translate promises into action. He noted past criticism of himself and the TUC by the same minister when they called for the increase to $350 soon after the present $260 was implemented.
“I support the fact that the minister made the statement. In the TUC, we have been asking for that for years,” Mr Ferguson said. “We are certainly looking for it to be done urgently because that has been a TUC platform. We have been criticised for saying it despite it being in the best interests of the country and the Bahamian people.
“Now the minister has seen fit to join us, which we welcome, but it needs to be done ASAP; very soon. They could put it on the next agenda for the House of Assembly. But when we asked them previously, they didn’t want to look at it. They thought our request was unreasonable.
“What we asked them for was the minimum wage at $350. That was a figure we thought was reasonable. Finally, a minister in government has seen fit to recognise and acknowledge the position of the TUC.”
Mr Ferguson also noted that Barbara Cartwright, the minister responsible for social services, last week said it is estimated that 12.5 percent of Bahamians are living below what is officially considered the poverty line.
“Yes, we think $350 is reasonable,” the TUC president reiterated. “That’s going to be our position. We are going to be pushing for that because the Bahamian cannot live; the average Bahamian with a family of two, three or even four cannot live on $260 a week. It’s just not humanly possible.
“Look at gasoline alone, and imagine that you have to take the children to school in the morning, pick them up, go to work. The gasoline bill is going to be near $100 a week. If the minimum wage is $260 a week, how could they live on that?… The citizens, the working people of the country, they are the ones that keep the economy going. If you give them an increase, that goes back into the cash registers.”
Mr Ferguson, though, signalled that “we cannot get too excited” and is waiting on whether the Government will turn rhetoric into reality by action. “Making a commitment is good, but where’s the follow through to it?’ he challenged.
Mr Turnquest, though, countered on the minimum wage: “There has to ber consultation throughout the country with Town Meetings to determine what small businesses can bear in relation to a minimum wage increase. There has to be Town Meetings from Abaco in the north to Inagua in the south on how any hike in the minimum wage is going to affect all small businesses.
“They have to determine how much the minimum wage is going to be, and there has to be agreement with small businesses. You cannot listen to the unions; they will kill us to pieces. The grassroots is the small business; the small businessman making $50.000 to $70,000. You have to talk to them. They are the ones driving the country, hiring the majority of people.”
As for when a minimum wage hike should be implemented, Mr Turnquest argued that 2027 should be spent on consultation and reaching agreement on an increase to take effect from New Year’s Day 2028. He warned against sudden execution, or doing so in the middle of a year, as the latter would impact business planning.
“You cannot burst through in the middle of the year, raising the minimum wage or NIB, as everyone has planned for the year,” he cautioned. “I’m concerned that the Government doesn’t act emotionally and not put an extra burden on small businesses. Who’s going to absorb all those students coming out to look for work?
“The Government has got to put some skin in the game and have a strategy to reduce inflation. Do everything in one go. Don’t do things piecemeal. At the end of the day, small businesses drive the country.”