The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet Minister has accused the Government’s critics of wanting to “have their cake and eat it” over the 600 Sandals redundancies, adding that the National Tripartite Council was the body responsible for reviewing labour laws.

Shane Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance, said the Christie administration was now being urged to adopt an interventionist stance by the same people who had previously called for ‘smaller government’.

“It is interesting when the same people who say we should have smaller governments, in times like these, ask for big government,” Mr Gibson said.

“Do you want government reaching their tentacles all over the place, getting into private sector business, or do you want smaller government where you allow the private sector to drive commerce. The same people who say the Government shouldn’t do this, the private sector should, now they want bigger government. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

While the trade unions have urged the Government to enact legislation to avoid abrupt business closures, such as the one initiated by Sandals, Mr Gibson reiterated that this was one of the reasons the Tripartite Council was established.

“Before we tabled social dialogue, and passed the legislation dealing with social dialogue, the minister could just initiate the process, have the stakeholders have an ‘in-out’ if he wanted, and then move ahead with it,” the Minister said.

“The process is different now versus before the Tripartite legislation was passed. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. When you act like a dictator, they say ‘no’. You can’t say when it’s convenient, the Government should dictate.

“You can only operate in the confines of the law. When we amend the law we operate within the confines of the new law.”

Mr Gibson nevertheless urged the Council to move to update the country’s redundancy laws, making it mandatory that proper notice be given - and consultations take place - before employers move to make employees redundant.

The Council is made up of two representatives from the National Congress of Trade Unions and one from the Trade Union Congress; three representatives from the Employers Confederation in the Chamber of Commerce; and three representatives from the Government.

The functions and powers of the Council are to practice and promote tripartism in the Bahamas through cooperation, consultation, negotiation and compromise.

The Council also advises the Government on the formulation of national policies and strategies on all aspects of labour, productivity, quality and competition; reviews and advises the Government on International Labour Organisation (ILO) matters and conference agendas; and examines and re-examines at appropriate intervals ILO conventions and recommendations that have not been ratified or implemented, and recommends appropriate measures for the promotion of their ratification and implementation.