BUSINESS MONDAY: Poor timing, says BPSA

GOVERNMENT and the Barbados private sector appear to be heading for a collision course over the proposed new minimum wage which is to become a reality from Thursday.

Both sides seem to be sticking to their guns even as the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) calls for the Social Partnership to discuss the issue.

Government remains steadfast that the new minimum wage will take effect from April 1, which is the start of its new financial year. However, the BPSA argues that now is not the time for it and is proposing January next year as a starting date.

BPSA Chairman Edward Clarke believes that by January, private sector firms would have started to recover from the prolonged economic downturns which Barbados has gone through since 2009, and up to the COVID-19 environment.

Clarke told a news conference that a matter of such importance ought to be discussed at the level of the Social Partnership. “We were to have a Social Partnership meeting in January, but we did not have one.

“We were supposed to have discussion on a prices and incomes protocol, but with the further onslaught of COVID-19, there was no Social Partnership meeting,” the BPSA official said. A meeting was also supposed to be held in March, but the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure took over, and according to Clarke they are looking forward to one in the near future.

He maintained that the private sector is not against the minimum wage, however, now is not the time for it given the challenges businesses have gone through and are going through. In fact, the BPSA head said not a single private sector individual would have a problem with the minimum wage.

The private sector leader revealed that while Barbados has done very well over the years, it remains vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks. He recalled that over the last two decades, Barbados has experienced declining growth as a consequence of 9/11, the great recession and worst of all, the COVID-19 pandemic.

This latter shock has seen GDP falling by almost 19 per cent, or over two billion dollars, and unemployment rising to over 30 per cent last year alone.

According to him, “Many of these people are still unemployed, remaining under the care of Government through its care packages and welfare.”

The BPSA official went on, “Many businesses have been struggling since 2009 [and] continued to do so through the COVID crisis. Many of them have failed to survive and based on the start of 2021, more will likely fall by the wayside.”

Saying there has simply been no robust growth, Clarke said  despite this the business sector has continued to play its role in being a corporate citizen in Barbados.

He recalled that the BPSA was asked to comment on the order for the new minimum wage and to provide a feedback to the Blue Ribbon Committee, headed by Sir David Simmons, former Chief Justice of Barbados.

Clarke explained, “We did so. We expressed our concern in the very short time frame given to us as a major player in this sector. They understood our concern.”