The Tribune

BEFORE the election, one of the big points being pushed by the Progressive Liberal Party was the support of unions. A rosy picture of Philip “Brave” Davis surrounded by smiling union men seemed to seal the deal.

It’s not looking so rosy now.

Whether you were trying to get a plane yesterday, or whether you were trying to get a bus, your journey may have been confounded by industrial action.

In both cases, it seems government had felt it had moved to resolve the issue – only for us to end up here.

Just last week, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, who is also the Minister for Tourism, Investments and Aviation, heralded a resolution to the dispute with Airport Authority employees.

He said the government had approved funding to honour all agreed terms of the industrial agreement.

That was Thursday. Yesterday, hundreds of airport employees refused to report to work. What happened? Where’s the money?

Labour Minister Keith Bell took the hard line yesterday, declaring the industrial action illegal, and warning there could be repercussions. What repercussions? Is he going to sack them all? Dock their pay? With the union already threatening action, what does he think that is going to achieve? A long, hot summer of travel disruption?

Labour director Robert Farquharson said yesterday that the government is addressing remaining outstanding payments and other issues. But wait a minute, Mr Cooper said last week the money has been approved, so what is there to address other than paying it?

If there remain things to be addressed, then are they outside the industrial agreement? Or is it not really being honoured as was declared?

Yesterday, Mr Cooper was describing the action as a “strong-arm tactic”, but why would such a tactic be needed if the agreement is fully funded and honoured?

Meanwhile, those who were trying to catch buses will have had their own issues, with the government saying about 20-25 jitneys withdrew their services.

Instead, the drivers pulled up at RM Bailey Park and explained their problems. The drivers want to see an increase in fares, at least in part because of the sky-high costs of fuel right now, but also because there has been a call for fare increases since 2008. Inflation has risen, fares have not.

The government, for its part, said it had deferred an increase in fares and instead designed a temporary relief package. In other words, they put an offer of relief funding on the table instead of letting the drivers raise the money themselves from higher fares. The protesting drivers said no and demanded a fare increase instead.

So disruption on the roads and disruption in the air. The very transport network that helps to bring people into our country and the financial lifeblood that goes with them. It needs to be resolved, and it needs to be resolved soon.

The worrying thing is that these should be the easier industrial problems to solve. At the airport, there’s an agreement in place, so fulfill it. With bus drivers, it’s a fairly small number of people in total, so it shouldn’t be an economic backbreaker to resolve.

What about the bigger industrial issues – with nurses, teachers, other public servants? These current issues are speed bumps compared to the risk of falling off a financial cliff with other groups.

Worrying times ahead.

Minimum wage

There has long been talk of a change to the minimum wage but the proposal has now gone to Cabinet.

The Labour director didn’t want to say yesterday what had been proposed by the National Tripartite Council, but said it would put smiles on the faces of Bahamians.

It is going to be a difficult balance to meet for Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis. There has been talk of a split in minimum wage – with a lower amount for staff who receive tips. That’s already received union pushback.

Then there is the cost it will bring to the national purse – when the Budget has already been described as optimistic in reaching its targets.

We have seen already that the government has hesitated to make major financial decisions with regards to costs at Bahamas Power and Light, and the diminishing fund at the National Insurance Board.

The next step, we are told, is widespread consultation – so you know the decision isn’t happening in a hurry.

But still, a quarter of the nation’s workers are impacted by this decision – so there are a lot of people waiting and hoping for a little extra in their pocket, even if that extra is already being eaten up by inflation.

Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis has said previously he expects the increase to come this year. Time is ticking.