By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A trade union leader has called for an end to “strong man tactics” in industrial negotiations while admitting that The Bahamas’ labour relations climate is “very, very bad”.

Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, told Tribune Business that the “complete disrespect” shown by employers to labour leaders was at the root of many current industrial disputes.

Voicing disappointment that virtually all outstanding negotiations appeared to be marked by strike votes, Mr Ferguson said just days before the upcoming Labour Day holiday that “you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see things are not where they ought to be”.

He also accused some employers of interfering with the internal affairs of trade unions, pointing to the Water & Sewerage Corporation and concerns - also expressed by John Pinder, director of labour - that its management union was non-compliant with its constitution when it came to elections, and therefore could not take a strike poll. Its poll was subsequently certified by Dion Foulkes, minister of labour.

With labour disputes spilling over from the public sector into the private sector, Mr Ferguson told Tribune Business: “We are very, very concerned. I spoke to the president of the National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas (NCTUB) president [Bernard Evans], and he certainly shared my views.

“I spoke with a number of individual unions and they shared my views on the state of labour. What seems to be a major problem is a complete disrespect of trade union leaders and conventions in that every dispute we now have there seems to be a strike vote and push towards a strike.

“To me, and I’ve said this over and over and over repeatedly, the employer has a duty, the union has a duty, and in the interests of the parties there must be a resolution of these issues. There must be a willingness to resolve things. The strong man tactic is over for each party,” the TUC chief continued.

“We need to come to the table and say: ‘Look, these are our interests respectively, and let us find a solution to it, but again that doesn’t seem to be.”

Taking strike votes early in industrial negotiations appears to be becoming a common union tactic, with both the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) and two Water & Sewerage Corporations both following this play book despite talks having hardly begun.

It is likely that the unions are seeking leverage, or bargaining chips, in their negotiations with employers. National Insurance Board (NIB) employees also staged a recent mass sick-out to express their displeasure over the direction of industrial agreement negotiations.

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see things are not where they ought to be,” Mr Ferguson told Tribune Business. “We can’t get a meeting with Sandals management. They only thing that’s certain when things are not done as they ought to be is industrial action.

“That is not something I would advocate as a labour leader before exhausting all avenues for negotiations. A strike is not something you jump into. A strike vote is done merely to find out whether members want to strike. It’s designed to assist the process of negotiation. Sometimes you have to use it, but before that I would recommend the parties sit down and try and dispose of the matter.”

Describing industrial relations in The Bahamas as “very, very bad”, Mr Ferguson accused some employers of “getting involved in union business” and added: “We can’t have that.

“The management cannot get involved in the internal affairs of the union. The union has a constitution that it is bound to follow. You cannot have the management telling the registrar of trade unions (Mr Pinder) that the union should have elections. It’s a matter for the constitution of the union; the department of labour ratifies it.”

Mr Ferguson did not refer to any specific situation of alleged employer interference in union affairs, although he was likely referring to the Water & Sewerage Corporation and its management union.

“That is the difficulty,” he added. “There is no regard for the system and no respect for the trade union leaders.... It’s the union that gets to determine the place and time for the poll, and that must be done in accordance with the constitution.”