By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A labour leader is warning that a mass union strike is “very possible.. at any moment” after all Trades Union Congress (TUC) affiliates agreed to act as a collective “unit” to resolve their workplace grievances.

Obie Ferguson, the TUC president, told Tribune Business that the 14 union affiliates who already possess strike vote certificates have agreed to act in union and “not fight the Government one on one” as he urged the Davis administration to speedily resolve the list of outstanding issues “prepared for the Prime Minister”.

Speaking after last week’s workplace disruption, which saw Bahamasair grounded for almost an entire day by a flight attendant and ground staff sick-out, which preceded similar action on Friday by Customs officers stationed at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), he described the current industrial relations climate as “very strained” and “very fragile” just prior to the Christmas holiday.

Acknowledging that labour grievances are “coming to a head at the worst possible time”, Mr Ferguson pledged to this newspaper that the TUC and its affiliates will not engage in “wildcat strikes” but legal industrial action in accordance with the strike vote certificates that they possess should the need arise.

And, asserting that “no one wants to put this country at a disadvantage” or harm the Bahamian economy just as it enters a peak period in the winter tourism season, the TUC chief warned that the failure to make progress on key labour demands will result in “people taking things into their own hands”.

Mr Ferguson, stating he was unaware of the sick-out by Customs officers at LPIA, told Tribune Business: “A number of unions are not very pleased with the way things are progressing with the list we’d prepared for the Prime Minister. All of the unions in the TUC affected by the list that I provided, 14, they would have taken a strike vote and be able to go on strike when they so desire.

“Coming out of our recent conclave, we have ensured all of them would have taken the strike vote necessary for them to go on strike. It won’t be a wildcat strike.” Relations between the public sector unions and the Government thus appeared to have spiralled downwards again despite Mr Ferguson telling this newspaper several weeks ago he was optimistic that the grievances could be resolved without industrial action.

Now, in his latest interview with this newspaper, he reiterated his confidence that “most of these issues will be resolved” by Christmas which is now just two days away. However, he also described the industrial relations climate in The Bahamas as “very strained, very strenuous on the unions and very strenuous on the workers”.

“What we thought would have gone without any industrial action, it seems as if that’s the route we will end up travelling on even though it’s not the one we intend,” Mr Ferguson told Tribune Business. “Our first obligation needs to be to members of the unions....

“It’s very fragile. The workers are making demands of their respective leaders to do what they asked them to do, which was to take a poll for a strike vote. They have a certificate. Certainly it is my view that by Christmas most of the issues will be resolved but we still have 14 unions with outstanding issues.”

The pact that the then-opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) agreed with the two umbrella union bodies prior to the 2021 general election thus appears to be fraying even though numerous industrial agreements involving public sector agencies have subsequently been signed.

Mr Ferguson again listed the two medical unions, the Bahamas Doctors Union (BDU) and Consultant Physician Staff Association (CPSA); the two unions respectively representing managerial and line staff workers at the National Insurance Board (NIB); at the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association as being among the TUC affiliates with long-standing industrial issues to address.

As for the Bahamas Customs, Immigration and Allied Workers Union, he suggested that Friday’s airport sick-out was related to frustration that Customs officers have yet to be paid outstanding overtime payments dating back months to at least May this year along with monies to cover transportation costs associated with attending private business enterprises to properly clear imported goods.

“And the beat goes on,” Mr Ferguson added. “We thought by now we would have resolved these matters because some of those outstanding could be resolved in minutes but for some reason government negotiators are not interested in bringing these matters to resolution. How could you refuse to, or fail to, pay overtime?

“It’s coming to a head at the worst possible time. My job is to help the unions and the leaders of the unions. That’s my job. I’m trying to do it. I’ve been doing it for three years without any industrial action, without any strikes, but for some reason they are seemingly not getting anything. The leaders are not getting satisfaction.

“Things could happen at any moment. Anything could happen. They are very, very unhappy. The members are making demands and they want action.” Mr Ferguson, as an example, queried why Customs had failed to make overtime payments that have been due for months when it collects on average around $100m in revenue for the Government per month.

“I would have thought all efforts would have been made to resolve them,” he added out the unions’ outstanding grievances. “You can only go so far and do so much. If people don’t want to listen it becomes not very manageable.

“People’s interests are paramount. The economy is part of the deal; we don’t want to damage the economy, but we want to find people who can get things done otherwise people take matters into their own hands, which is not a perfect position. We’ll see what happens.”

Mr Ferguson confirmed that, at the recent conclave staged by the TUC and attended by all its affiliates, all the unions who have obtained strike votes agreed to initiate industrial action collectively. “The unions are asking me if they can go on strike,” he said. “We agreed to do things collectively. We agreed not to go in an individual capacity. If and when we go, we go with everybody. That’s the position we have taken.

“That’s very, very possible from what I can see unless the Government intervenes. Then we can avoid it. The Government has to intervene. They have no choice in the matter. As a matter of fact, I have union leaders calling me, wanting me to let them know when it’s going to happen so they can be part of the process.

“Any time it can happen, and when we do it, it’s not going to be one union. It will be all the unions of the TUC. It’s one of the things we agreed at the conclave. We agreed not to fight the Government one on one. We agreed to fight as a unit. We would jump in as one together and the conclave must made that firm...When the doctors’ union cries, we all cry,” Mr Ferguson continued.

“The Government can do what governments normally do when you reach a deadlock and negotiate with the right people making the decisions and put these things to rest.... No one wants to put this country as a disadvantage; we all live here. But by the same token we have to make sure what we have in The Bahamas is shared among the Bahamian people.”