The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The National Tripartite Council’s just-unveiled three-year strategic plan yesterday met with approval from employers and unions alike, who agreed: “We must change the way we do business.”

Peter Goudie, who represents the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) on the Council, told Tribune Business that the plans to grow employment and equip young persons with 21st century skills were received positively by all business, labour and government representatives who attended the launch.

Speaking just as official data revealed a slight increase in the unemployment rate to 10.7 percent, Mr Goudie said the Tripartite Council was seeking to “fix some of the loopholes in the labour laws” as well as reform the “archaic” Apprenticeship Act and develop a National Productivity Council and related legislation.

Describing all parties as “firing on the same engine”, he added that the strategy also called for the introduction of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Decent Work Country programme “in a more serious way” than previous efforts.

Paul Maynard, the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union’s (BEWU) president, described the strategic plan’s multiple objectives as “ambitious” but worthy of praise as they aimed to bring Bahamian labour laws “into line” with the country’s ILO convention commitments.

Expressing scepticism as to whether Bahamian businesses will buy into the plan, Mr Maynard, who attended the launch, backed the goal of “levelling the playing field” between well-financed companies and Bahamian workers during Industrial Tribunal hearings.

Expressing hope that the planned apprenticeship programme would change the culture among young Bahamians, and encourage more to carve out careers in carpentry and other trades, the BEWU chief agreed that there was “an absolute and total need” for a National Productivity Council if this nation’s economy is to properly compete in the modern world.

“We made the presentation, and we had the full support of everybody there - the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Labour, the two umbrella union heads [Obie Ferguson and Bernard Evans],” Mr Goudie told this newspaper of last Thursday’s launch.

“It’s all positive stuff; all to do with growing employment and giving young people skills. Everybody left saying we were doing the right thing. It was very positive everything they’re trying to do, including fixing some of the loopholes in the labour laws.”

Mr Goudie added that the long-awaited apprenticeship programme was set to launch “fairly soon”, and will be underpinned by updated legislation. “We’re going to bring in a new Apprenticeship Act,” he added. “The one on the books is archaic.

“We’re going to be going out on Town Halls and in the Family Islands on the national productivity legislation. We’re going to be setting up a National Productivity Council and hope to have that in front of the legislature in a few months. We’re going to go out with a White Paper on that fairly shortly.”

Mr Goudie added that the introduction of arbitration to help resolve employment disputes without going to expensive, time-consuming legislation was another goal in the strategic plan. Other objectives focus on a review of the Employment and Industrial Relations Acts, and a series of workshops to bring employers and unions up-to-date on the legislation.

“It’s going to be a busy year,” he added. “We’re working together, firing on the same engine. I came away feeling good about what we’re doing for the country. We’re going to be doing a lot of things aimed at youth unemployment. People, the naysayers, need to stop as the Government is trying very hard.”

The National Tripartite Council, which comprises members from the Government, private sector and trade unions, was created as a forum to facilitate smoother industrial relations in The Bahamas as all labour-related matters would be discussed and resolved before it.

But Mr Maynard, while backing many aspects of the Council’s strategic plan, expressed doubt over whether the Chamber would be able to convince all elements of the private sector to accept and go along with it.

“It’s ambitious. It’s a very ambitious plan,” the BEWU chief told Tribune Business. “It tries to bring the labour laws into line with the ILO conventions that The Bahamas has signed on to.

“Whether or not the business people can do it is another story. Some of it is going to possibly impact their businesses. They had a representative from the Chamber there and they’ve all bought into it in principle. Whether they can convince the people they represent is another story. It tries to make all parties responsible and that’s a good thing.”

While backing arbitration as a concept for resolving labour disputes, Mr Maynard added that the pool of arbitrators needed to be experienced with decisions “binding on both sides” to be truly effective.

“The Industrial Tribunal is a very big point of contention,” he added, “because there’s no justice for workers when they go there. If a poor worker is up against a big company with a lawyer it’s going to put them at a big disadvantage.

“They [the Council’s plan] want to level the playing field, which is the right thing to do. They want to have an Industrial Court, where you get an advocate to represent you as opposed to hiring a lawyer. The small man has to be able to represent themselves in court.”

Expressing hope that the apprenticeship programme will motivate more Bahamians to become certified tradespersons, Mr Maynard said he and other union leaders have repeatedly called on workers to “step up their game” as competition intensifies.

“There is an absolute and total need for a productivity council,” he told Tribune Business. “We have to sort the country out. We need to compete, and don’t want to have laxadaisical workers; we don’t want to even entertain that.

“All presidents are saying to the workers we need to change the way we do business. We’ve all said that, and have to get real, especially with this WTO nonsense coming on board. I’ve never agreed with the WTO and don’t want anything to do with it. I’m not the Government, the Government runs the country, but if that’s the route they’re going I don’t approve.”