By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

MANY employers in The Bahamas have a ‘fundamental problem’ with trade union involvement in their businesses, a leading unionofficial and attorney has told Tribune Business, suggesting that many failed to appreciate the role the movement has played in nation’s history.

“When you look at other countries, certainly they have trade and labour disputes as well but it seems as though in The Bahamas, many employers have a fundamental problem with the trade union involvement in their business,” said Trade Union Congress (TUC) president Obie Ferguson.

“We can try to see if we can, in an amicable way, sit down and negotiate without having to resort to a strike but the employer often times takes that willingness to negotiate in good faith to be weakness,” said Mr Ferguson. “Today there seems to be a disconnect. Persons who are now administering or enacting laws are not aware where we came from.

“There are many who fail to realise that trade unions have played a very active and critical role in The Bahamas that we now call The Bahamas today and the role the labour movement played in making The Bahamas become an independent nation. If you don’t know your history you tend to repeat your past.

“When people get frustrated they do strange things and there is no need for that nowadays when you have things like arbitration and mediation. All of those tools are designed to assist unions and employees. Those mechanisms have been designed to help parties through dispute resolution but if you are not prepared to use it and decide to use brute force then there is a problem,” said Mr Ferguson.

The TUC leader said that his organisation was pushing for amendments to the law regarding issues such as redundancy, stating that it was unfair that a worker who has been employed for 20 years to have the same entitlement as an employee who has worked only for 12 years.

Mr Ferguson said that while he agreed that there was a need to improve service standards and productivity, there is a need for an increase in the minimum wage.