The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The private sector is demanding that labour laws be reformed so that Bahamian trade unions “cease to exist” if they fail to file annual returns, with their registration also cancelled if they become insolvent.

The demands, designed to counter the labour-friendly reforms proposed to the Employment Act and Industrial Relations Act, also recommend that a mandatory obligation be placed on Bahamian trade unions to create ‘a redundancy fund’ for their members.

Edison Sumner, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chief executive, set out the private sector’s position in a December 20, 2016, letter to the director of labour, calling for the recommendations to be discussed by the National Tripartite Council (NTC).

The letter, sent to Robert Farquharson in his capacity as the Council’s chairman, called for the Industrial Relations Act to be changed so that trade unions that were insolvent, or failed to file their annual returns, ceased to exist under Bahamian statute law.

“The private sector representatives submit the following recommendations for consideration by the NTC and subsequently, the Minister of Labour,” Mr Sumner wrote.

“Section 39 of the Industrial Relations Act be amended to make it unlawful for trade unions who fail and/or refuse to file their annual returns to continue to exist.

“These annual returns should be audited by a licensed member of the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA). It is proposed that trade unions be fined for this failure.”

The Chamber chief executive then added: “Moreover, the Act should be amended to make provisions for trade unions who are insolvent to have their registration cancelled immediately or incur some other penalty.

“The Industrial Relations Act should include a mandatory provision requiring all trade unions to create a redundancy fund for its members.”

The Chamber’s recommendations, as the private sector representative on the National Tripartite Council, appear designed to redress the balance between the business community and labour given the nature of the reforms proposed initially.

As revealed by Tribune Business yesterday, these changes include raising the redundancy pay ‘cap’ under the Employment Act by two-thirds for both line and managerial staff, something the Chamber warned would “cripple and/or bankrupt most businesses” in the Bahamas, resulting in mass lay-offs and company closures.

Other planned amendments to the Employment Act require companies to give 30 days’ notice to the Minister of Labour and trade union if they plan on making an employee redundant.

Should they fail to comply with this, “they will be required to pay each affected employee 30 days’ basic pay in lieu of notice” in addition to what they are due under the law.

The Chamber warned that this amounted to “unnecessary interference” in a company’s business, and “impede its effective management”.

The two other stakeholders represented on the National Tripartite Council, the Government and the trade unions themselves, are unlikely to support the private sector’s proposed reforms .

This means they will not be submitted to the Minister of Labour and the Government for consideration as changes to the law, given that all recommendations sent by the National Tripartite Council are supposed to be unanimously agreed by all three sides.

However, as revealed by Tribune Business this week, the private sector has raised doubts over whether the National Tripartite Council has been adhering to its own legal mandate, which requires unanimous agreement of all stakeholders, after a December 15 letter was issued without its agreement.

Still, the private sector’s ‘push back’ against reform proposals that many businesses regard as one-sided will likely raise the temperature of the discussions at the National Tripartite Council.

Trade unions have previously demanded that employers create a ‘redundancy fund’ for their staff, or pay contributions into a national redundancy fund, but never suggested that they themselves - or their members - pay anything towards this.

Mr Sumner and the Chamber, meanwhile, reiterated their opposition to many of the proposed Industrial Relations Act amendments.

It disagreed, in particular, with reforms that would make it an automatic legal obligation for Bahamian employers to deduct union dues for all staff and send the money to “the union of their choice”.

“We do not support this recommendation, and hold the position that the aforementioned arrangement should be negotiated between the employer and the trade union,” Mr Sumner wrote.

“Moreover, this recommendation has an associated cost for employers, as they are required to operate the necessary mechanisms to comply with the provision. These costs are not borne by the trade unions, and such implementation will be borne solely by the employer.”

Mr Sumner said the current legal requirement, which is that trade unions negotiate with employers over the payment of union dues, “will act as an incentive for trade unions to early negotiate replacement industrial agreement for the continuity of the collection of dues”.

The Chamber is also against proposals to reform section 51 of the Industrial Relations Act such that the terms and conditions of industrial agreements are automatically deemed to be incorporated into individual workers’ contracts.

“Upon the expiration of a registered agreement, trade unions are obliged to meet with the employer to negotiate a new agreement to ensure the continuity of the terms and conditions of employment in the worker’s contract,” Mr Sumner wrote.

Most of the proposed reforms appear to be a direct response to the situation at the Melia Nassau Beach Resort, where the hotel is no longer collecting union dues and paying them to the union, and Sandals Royal Bahamian’s termination last August of its near-600 strong workforce.

The Chamber also voiced its opposition to employers being forced to start collective bargaining within 45 days of receiving a trade union’s industrial agreement proposal.

“The employer and trade union should not be constrained to act within prescribed timeframes. Incentives should be developed to encourage efficient collective bargaining processes,” Mr Sumner said.

He also called for “the right for an employer to petition for the revocation of a trade union” to be reinstated in the Industrial Relations Act.