By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday said the Government is about to start its “second lap” of re-negotiating expired industrial agreements with the trade unions.

Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour and the public service, also said the completion of industrial deals with the Consultant Physicians Staff Association (CPSA) and the Bahamas Doctors Union (BDU) - representing both the senior and junior doctors, respectively, in the public health system - is “imminent”.

Speaking to reporters at the National Tripartite Council’s annual general assembly, she said talks are almost completed and is hopeful that a proposal will be agreed on within days so the industrial agreements can be signed next week.

“I am highly anticipating us finally signing our agreement with the doctor’s unions - that would be the CPSA and the BDU. They are imminent. We are at the point of counter proposals, where we’re down to our last clause, and hopeful that we will get that proposal agreed to within this week, and hopefully move forward to a signing within the next week,” said Mrs Glover-Rolle.

She added that preparations are also being made to begin negotiations on several industrial agreements set to expire. “We’re about to make our second lap. We have 54 industrial agreements signed between public and private sectors. Many of our agreements are expiring within the next eight to twelve weeks, and we are already back at the table,” said Mrs Glover-Rolle

“We’re already just drafting proposals so that we can sign our next round of industrial agreements that speak to absolute success on the labour front and absolute success for industrial relations.”

Mrs Glover-Rolle encouraged feedback from all sides on the proposed labour reforms and warned them not to “oppose just to oppose”, but to provide suggestions and alternatives that can help create labour market policies.

She said The Bahamas must reform its labour practices to ensure it is in line with international standards, with several countries already successfully implementing changes to maternity leave, paternity leave, mental health leave and remote work.

“My message to them today was, don’t oppose just to oppose. Come with a solutions-based response. We can’t just say we can’t do certain things for our workers. Maybe we have to do it in a limited version, maybe we need to pivot in the way that we’re doing it, but to outrightly oppose and not even look at a perspective where we can move forward even incrementally, I don’t subscribe to that,” said Mrs Glover-Rolle.

“That was my encouragement. Where there are barriers, let’s give solutions and focused response to understand how we can move forward, because we’re not moving forward because The Bahamas says we should. There are international labour standards that we want to attain, and many countries have successfully demonstrated that they have extended maternity leave, paternity leave, mental health leave, remote work, legislation and, of course, legislation that speaks to the industry of technology and AI that’s ever evolving. So it’s never a hard ‘no’. It’s always social dialogue and ensuring that we’re finding solutions so that we can actively move our workforce into the 21st century.”