Over 60k workers to benefit from minimum wage increase
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — “Every dollar counts” according to Minister of State for the Public Service, Pia Glover-Rolle, who stood in support of the minimum wage bill that was tabled in the House of Assembly Wednesday morning.
She said that although the increase is not ideal it will offer some degree of relief to families.
“We do believe, though, that every dollar counts there are families relying on a single income, especially among families led by single mothers. An extra $26 hundred a year matters to those families,” she said.
“We’re talking about an increase from approximately $10 thousand to over $12 thousand a year, a roughly 20 percent increase in earnings, and these families will see and appreciate the difference.”
Many individuals in the public service sector, at various levels, have already seen pay increases according to the State Minister for Social Services who added that 60 thousand workers, or 28 percent of the entire workforce, would benefit from the new minimum wage bump.
Glover-Rolle stated that their goal was to strike a balance in improving employment numbers while providing an increase for workers.
“These things were considered and of course, these concerns and issues will be addressed, and with no illusion that this increase magically erased the hardship felt by the many families.
“[…] If I were to give advice to the side opposite, I would say just criticizing and pointing out concerns all the time isn’t anything special. Every government must take into account the pros and cons of decisions,” Glover-Rolle said.
She also made the suggestion to the opposition to “pick a side” on the issue of minimum wage as it seemed unclear whether or not they were in support of the bill or not.
“If you are concerned about what we should do, get specific and tell us what you should do. Take a policy stance as a party and you know stop the double talk, be consistent… I’d be happy to hear from Marco City.
“The leader of the opposition supports this increase sort of, he saw it and said it was needed. Then he seemed conflicted between the concerns that the minimum wage increase was not enough, but the same concern that it would be too much for business owners as a government, we have looked into that.”
In response Member of Parliament for East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson said that the opposition is in full support of bill’s passing.
“We fully support the increase in the minimum wage. […] the FNM was the party that introduced the minimum wage in the Bahamas. This was, is and continues to be a part of the agenda of the Free National Movement, so of course, we support the increase.
“There’s no question about that, there’s no argument about that […] we commend the government for making this step. We support you,” Thompson said.
