By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Trade union leaders said yesterday they were not surprised by the employer resistance to the proposed labour law reforms, and dismissed fears of wage and hiring freezes as “laughable”.

Bernard Evans, president of the National Congress of Trade Unions Bahamas (NCTUB), told Tribune Business: “I’m not surprised by the push back at all. There is always a push back when the union is agitating for additional compensation or benefit from employers.

“You very seldom find any benevolent employers that willingly would agree to increases of any shape or form. We expected this kind of push back.”

Tribune Business previously reported that the Bahamas’ biggest employers, including some of the largest hotels, were mulling whether to impose a wages and hiring freeze in retaliation for the Government’s decision to introduce the controversial labour reforms.

 Mr Evans yesterday dismissed fears of a hiring and wage freeze, adding:“It’s laughable for them to talk like that.

“This is not automatic money coming out of the coffers of employers. This is not an everyday phenomena. It’s not something that comes up everyday; it doesn’t just happen. I don’t see this whole thing about additional.

“The CEO of any company makes an average of 100 times the salary of their employees. We’re only closing a gap here. We are responsible for levelling the playing field. Labour has to be looked at with some kind of respect,” he continued.

“We’re at the lowest in the region in terms of the redundancy cap. All of this doom and gloom, that has nothing to do with hiring. Either you need someone or you do not need them.”

Paul Maynard, the NCTUB’s first vice-president, added: “This is just for protection for people if they are made redundant, so it’s not going to harm the business.

“Tell them to stop lying. Unless they plan on making someone redundant and, if they do it, then they should pay people fairly. The point is if people are made redundant you must pay the price.”    

He said: ‘The unions are not unreasonable; I am reasonable. There is nothing wrong with these Bills. You have to protect Bahamians; you cannot just get rid of people and not pay them. Properly evaluate your staff every year and if they fall short, deal with them. But do not just fire a bunch of people because you don’t like them and make them redundant.

“These businesses are being childish and overreacting. This is a redundancy situation to make it better for when you are leaving. This will not affect the bottom line unless you lay people off. How will this affect? How will it have a crippling impact? They crying wolf. The sky is not falling. They complained about minimum wage being raised, too. What are they crying for? They are only thinking of themselves, no one else.”

Key among employer concerns is the 67 per cent, or two-thirds increase, in the Employment Act’s redundancy pay ‘cap’.

Line staff are currently entitled to a maximum 24 weeks or six months’ redundancy pay under the Employment Act, gaining two weeks for each year they have been employed up to the 12-year ‘cap’.

However, the Bill requires the ‘cap’ to be increased to 32 weeks (16 years) immediately upon enactment of the reforms. And, ultimately, the ‘cap’ for line staff redundancy pay is to be increased to 40 weeks some two years after the amendments are passed.

As for managerial staff, the existing 48 weeks (12 months/one year) redundancy pay maximum that they are due currently under the Employment Act is to be immediately increased to 64 weeks. Should the proposals pass, the ‘cap’ will ultimately be lifted to 80 weeks after two years.