NASSAU, The Bahamas -- The Minister of Labour and the Public Service the Hon. Pia Glover-Rolle said for the first time ever, the government is sustaining a consistently proactive approach to labour relations.  “We are not waiting until existing agreements expire or are about to expire to scramble to the negotiation table,” the Labour Minister said during her Contribution to the 2023-2024 Mid-Year Budget Debate in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

“We have regular meetings with all labour stakeholders, and an open-door policy for union leaders and employers to reach out to make us aware of emerging issues.”

She said, “As we look ahead to the expiration of a few of the signed agreements over the next few years, we anticipate that we will replicate our current success.”

The Minister explained that a majority of the Labour Agreements that have been signed are either registered or are in the final stages of the registration process.

She said of the 23 total agreements signed up to December of last year, 12 have already been signed and registered.  An additional seven have already been reviewed and vetted with recommendations made for any adjustments to be made in preparation for registration.

“In total, this means that 19 of the 23 agreements have either been finalized and registered or are in the final stages of the registration process with progress being made on the remaining four agreements.”

She said the pace at which the government has been signing agreements has been anything but typical.

“The Registrar’s office has been inundated with a historic amount of agreements. This kind of success has not been seen before. It is as simple as that.”

The Labour Minister explained that the government did not wait for agreements to be finalized before making adjustments to salaries and benefits.

“We went ahead and made the adjustments in good faith with full confidence that the agreement would be finalized.”

She said, “That 18 million dollars increase you see in overall wages and salaries – that is what is entailed.  It is reflected in the budget.”

Contributory Pension Plan: The Minister said during this Government Administration’s first year in office, it spoke of the possibility of a Contributory Pension Plan becoming a reality for public servants.

“While we have not provided an update on that initiative in recent months, I want public servants to know that the government is working behind the scenes and we hope to have an update on this new pension plan in the near future.”

She explained that this would be a plan that public servants contribute to, which will provide benefits proportionate to their contributions.

“It would be separate and apart from the existing pension plan, so those who are due pensions under the current plan will still receive what is owed to them in addition to whatever they contribute to the contributory pension plan.

The Labour Minister added, “It would also be portable, and able to move with them even when they leave the public service.”   (BIS Photo/Kemuel Stubbs)