Bridgetown, Barbados — Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has firmly rejected claims that Barbados’ recent minimum wage increase will automatically trigger higher food prices. Addressing the House of Assembly on Monday during debate on the Report of the Parliamentary Reform Commission, Mottley called such arguments misleading and emphasized the need for businesses to act in the national interest.
The Prime Minister was responding to concerns raised by businessman Andrew Bynoe, managing director of A1 Supermarkets, who had warned in the SUNDAY SUN that the minimum wage adjustment, effective June 1, would leave businesses with no choice but to pass on the increased labour costs to consumers.
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Mottley dismissed the claim, pointing out that businesses had previously benefited from significant tax cuts but had not lowered their prices.
“I completely reject the assertions of the owner who has indicated that food prices must go up purely because there’s a minimum wage in this country,” she said. “May I remind him that his prices did not go down when this Government reduced corporation taxes from 25 per cent to 5.5 per cent in 2019.”
She argued that profit margins could be adjusted modestly in difficult times.
“If my mark-up and my return were 25 per cent before and my profits were at 15 or 12 per cent, then I can do with 11 or 10 per cent—largely because we must carry everybody with us in these turbulent times.”
Mottley also reminded the House of measures already implemented by her administration to cushion cost-of-living pressures, including the absorption of freight costs since December 2019 to buffer both businesses and consumers from external economic shocks.
“This Government did not sit idly by. We moved to protect Barbadians and the business community when the pandemic threatened to unravel supply chains. So, I do not accept that a rise in the minimum wage must mean more expensive food,” she said.
Her remarks were part of a wider presentation reflecting on Barbados’ democratic journey since the introduction of universal adult suffrage 75 years ago. Mottley underscored that transformative national policies—such as free education, land redistribution, unemployment benefits, and the establishment of a minimum wage—were made possible because Barbadians secured the right to vote in 1950.
“These were not acts of chance,” Mottley emphasized. “They were deliberate choices made possible by the vote and rooted in the principle that every Barbadian deserves the opportunity to rise.”
The Prime Minister also addressed the importance of continuous democratic evolution, especially in light of Barbados’ new republican status. She praised the extensive public engagement conducted by the Parliamentary Reform Commission, which included ten national town halls, diaspora consultations via Zoom, and expert academic input.
“Governance must be ventilated openly, and the public must always be invited into the room,” she said. “Democracy is not something that happens every five years when we vote. It is a living, ongoing conversation between the Government and the people.”
While Cabinet has yet to take a formal position on the Commission’s recommendations, Mottley said she looks forward to a national debate that will further strengthen Barbados’ democratic system, ensuring it reflects inclusivity and transparency.
She closed with a call for national unity and shared sacrifice as essential pillars for navigating the global uncertainties ahead.
