The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Staff Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

LABOUR Minister Shane Gibson yesterday said he was prepared to take the necessary steps to prevent an illegal mass strike.

Although he would not give details of the government’s plan of action, Mr Gibson said any industrial action taken by unions with pending matters before the Industrial Tribunal would be unlawful.

He was responding to renewed threats by the Trade Union Congress for a massive strike in the country in response to what has been claimed as the government’s “mistreatment” of workers.

Mr Gibson explained that while he did not want to discourage workers from doing what they felt was necessary, he had a greater responsibility to act in the best interest of the country.

“If you tell the world, and you tell me that you are going to shut down an entire country,” said Mr Gibson, “it would be irresponsible of me if it is within my power to stop you from shutting down the country to sit back and allow you to shut it down. The law works on both sides,” he said. 

“You file a trade dispute, once I refer that dispute to the Tribunal you cannot take any industrial action. So you can file as many trade disputes as you want, you can take as many strike polls as you want; once I refer the matter to the industrial tribunal you cannot strike, it’s against the law.

“Once you put me on notice that you are going to strike,” he said, “that you want to interrupt the country, then I have to decide whether it is in the best interest of the country. I have to do something. The decisions will be made.”

The TUC represents 26 unions and has a collective membership of about 15,000 workers.

TUC President Obie Ferguson has been threatening to lead workers on a three-day strike for months; however, there has been no date or specific details as to when that will be. Last week, Mr Ferguson said he was “rallying the troops”.

He questioned whether union leaders were working in their own best interest instead of that of their members, adding that the recent minimum wage hike for public servants amounted to just a $15 increase.

Outside Cabinet yesterday, Mr Gibson said the new industrial agreement with the Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) represented a reasonable compromise given the government’s fiscal limitations.

Responding to questions over labour relations in the country, Mr Gibson said the government has ignored steps taken in the region, and recommendations from international organisations to reduce the size of the public service.

He underscored the difficult financial position of the government, and the importance for compromise on industrial matters.

Mr Gibson also renewed the government’s commitment to regularise more than 3,000 workers that have been on contract in the public service for nearly 20 years. 

He pointed out that the BPSU had secured two increases for its members, while negotiations with the union representing Customs and Immigration workers remained stalled.

Mr Gibson said: “We just signed an industrial agreement with the public service, that’s 20,000 people. Those persons understood the position we are in, they reached a compromise. Customs and Immigration haven’t gotten anything,” he said. “What I’m saying is if they decide they want to be reasonable and understand and accept and compromise then that’s one thing, but if you want to be unreasonable then you will continue to wait.”

BPSU president John Pinder has said his union will not support a mass strike by the TUC. He told The Tribune on Monday he could not support “a handful of greedy people” who think they should get more money than other civil servants”, adding that his focus was to get the government to delay or stop Value Added Tax.