Trade union leaders have urged the Government not to “box ourselves in” to joining the WTO by 2019, fearing there will be “very, very serious” consequences for Bahamian workers.

Bernard Evans, the National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU) president, told Tribune Business that the Bahamas would only “put pressure on everyone” by setting a deadline to accede to full World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership.

He warned that the “majority” of WTO’s likely impacts would be negative for this nation, describing global trade’s rules-setting body as an organisation that favoured ‘big business’ and the world’s major economic powers.

Mr Evans’s fears were echoed by Obie Ferguson, his Trades Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, who suggested that most Bahamian businesses and workers were not prepared for competition against foreign rivals.

Agreeing that the two-year WTO accession timeline set by the Government was too short to ready the economy, Mr Ferguson urged the Government’s negotiators to focus on obtaining ‘reservations’ to protect “the sovereignty and uniqueness of our country” - especially those industries where only Bahamian ownership is allowed.

The Minnis administration is planning major changes as it moves to reposition the Bahamian economy for greater growth through liberalisation and deregulation, of which WTO membership is a central component.

Brent Symonette, minister of financial services, trade and industry and Immigration, recently revealed to Tribune Business that the Government is targeting 2019 to complete the longest-ever WTO accession process - a move that is already causing unease among many companies and workers.

Mr Evans told Tribune Business that while the Bahamas could possible be ready by 2019 or 2020, it was not necessary to impose additional pressure by setting a deadline for accession.

He called for a national dialogue that would examine “the pros and cons” of joining the WTO, so that all Bahamians could understand how it impacted them, before a final decision was made.

“We shouldn’t put ourselves in a box by saying we will complete by 2019,” the NCTU president told this newspaper in a recent interview. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no need to put yourself in a box by setting a deadline to join.

“We should have a proper dialogue with no pressure so that everyone understands what it means. We should let everyone get involved and, once we’ve had that dialogue, go and make ourselves ready to accede.

“If we start now we might be ready for 2019 or 2020, but we shouldn’t box ourselves into that timeline, as you will be putting pressure on everyone to sign on.”

Mr Evans’s concerns were echoed by his TUC counterpart, who said the Government’s 2019 target date was “too short a window” to prepare Bahamian workers for increased competition that may result in foreigners taking their jobs.

“Two years is not enough and definitely would not be desirable,” Mr Ferguson said, expressing particular concern for technical and vocational trades. “It’s very serious. Very serious. WTO gives you free movement of people, and we are not prepared for that.

“The vocational part of our society I find to be in need of assistance. In my humble opinion it’s not where it ought to be. Just about every technical fella required to do technical work, whether it’s a plumber or water heater repairs, these things are all done by non-Bahamians.”

Mr Ferguson said other countries have invested more heavily than the Bahamas in workforce development and training, especially in the vocational professions, placing local workers at a competitive disadvantage.

The extent to which foreign labour can enter the Bahamas, and in which industries, will likely depend on this nation’s negotiators and the WTO accession terms they agree. The WTO also places less emphasis on ‘free labour movement’ than other trade-related initiatives, such as the Caribbean Single Market & Economy (CSME).

“The WTO will have a serious, serious effect on the Bahamas’ workforce; there’s no question about that,” Mr Ferguson told Tribune Business. “If the training is better and the labour cheaper, it’s a given. If we open our economy to that, the consequences will be severe.

“There’ll be fundamental changes in our economy, and if we do not prepare ourselves for it we’re going to have problems. It’s almost seven-eight years since I had seminar here on the WTO, and brought in a whole bunch of speakers from across the world to show the importance of education and training.

“It was a good conference but, at the end, nothing happened. To try and get the Bahamas ready in the next two years will be very difficult. I think we ought to defer it as we have to educate the Bahamian people.”

Mr Ferguson said WTO accession will also require the Bahamas to open up industries previously closed to foreign companies, some of whom would set up physical operations here in competition with locally-owned firms.

“If it brings Home Depot, Wal-Mart or one of the big companies here, I would strongly suggest we have a lot of provisions that allow us to do things in the best interest of our country,” the TUC leader added.

“If we just allow that thing to go lock, stock and barrel it will have serious consequences, and I recommend there be provisions for certain things for the preservation of our sovereignty and uniqueness as a country, so we can distinguish the Bahamas from elsewhere. We must have reservations on certain things that make the Bahamas our Bahamas.

“We’re not a world power, but the uniqueness of the culture of the Bahamas, we have to find a way to preserve that for present and future generations. We can agree to certain things in the interest of the economy, but we have to preserve others for the Bahamas and Bahamian people.”

Mr Evans, meanwhile, said that while there were some positive aspects to full WTO membership, “the majority are negative”.

He suggested that the WTO set-up was designed chiefly to benefit multinational companies and their profits, plus the major industrialised nations. “When you have an organisation run by chief executives, and the Bahamas is a member of such, it can’t bode well for the workers,” the NCTU president said.

“We’ve got to be very careful with what we’re implementing and protect the rights of workers in this country.”

Mr Evans also expressed concern about the reduction, or elimination, of many import tariffs and the wide-ranging tax reform this would inevitably prompt.

And he warned that joining the rules-based, liberalised trade regime of the WTO would erode Bahamian sovereignty and the ability of Parliament to make laws in the national interest.

For these could be challenged and overridden by disputes resolution panels if they are non-compliant with international trade rules.

Bahamian businesses will also have to become familiar with terms such as ‘Most Favoured Nation’, ‘national treatment’ and ‘reciprocity’, which all relate to non-discrimination and will mean that this nation cannot - in many instances - treat local businesses and investors more favourably than foreign-owned ones.