Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) CEO Edison Sumner yesterday welcomed the government's proposed increase to the national private sector minimum wage as a model for private and public sector cooperation, stating that the chamber had "no difficulty" with the figure.
Speaking with Guardian Business, Sumner stated that the intended wage increase to $210 per week for private sector employees (up from $150) demonstrated the first tangible results of the National Tripartite Council, which launched in March. The council brings together representatives from the government, private sector, and national trade unions.
Sumner noted that the government proposed a minimum wage of roughly $225 in keeping with the public sector minimum wage, while the BCCEC initially proposed a weekly wage of $204. However, Sumner said that initial proposals from certain trade unionists were "out of whack" during preliminary discussions.
"We have no difficulty with the number. We suggested and agreed with the other social partners that that's the number that's comfortable for all of us and if the government's mindful to accept those recommendations, then they would have the full support of the chamber of commerce," he said.
"We are pleased with the compromise. We thought that the numbers that one of trade union bodies was suggesting, $350, was totally out of whack. There's no way that this economy and the private sector could have absorbed a $350 minimum wage, it just could not happen," he said.
Minister of Labour Shane Gibson announced the proposed increase during his contribution to the 2015/2016 budget debate earlier this week. However, Gibson did not reveal when the government would amend the Minimum Wage Act to allow the increase.
"Obviously, Mr. Speaker, it was a compromise... there are many in the private sector and in the trade union sector who would have liked more, but everybody recognizes that we are just now coming out of a recession," said Gibson.
Sumner said that the chamber consulted with small and large employers in the country proposing the $210 figure following discussions with the International Labour Organization and other international partners, which they eventually accepted. However, Sumner stressed that the next step in advancing the national labor force rested in improving worker productivity that continues to leave many employers wanting.
"We want to ensure that workers in the country are properly compensated. We want to ensure also, though, that there are skill sets and levels of productivity in the work force that will be commensurate with the level of the wage that they're going to get.
"We all want to see people earn more money but we also want to see an increase in the level of productivity coming from the work force as well, because we're losing a lot of money on the lack of productivity, not having in place all of the requisite skill sets that are needed to advance certain industries in the country, so the employers are now taking it upon themselves to ensure that their staff is properly and adequately trained and we encourage those in the civil service to do the same," Sumner said.
Looking forward, Sumner hoped that the swift results of deliberations would carry on to future tripartite council initiatives, stating that the country "did not have the luxury" of taking months upon months to resolve labor concerns.
"This shows us that once we put our minds to a place where we can collaborate together and achieve a certain objective there is nothing that can stop us. There is no reason that many of the other initiatives that are being considered now that will have private sector involvement cannot be advanced very quickly," said Sumner.
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