The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

AMID tenuous negotiations between Morton Salt (Bahamas) and the trade union representing its line-staff, Labour Minister Dion Foulkes has called for a process of “give and take,” urging the two sides to move closer to a resolution.

In an interview with reporters yesterday, Mr Foulkes pleaded for peace as he begged those involved in the negotiation to let cooler heads prevail.

On Sunday Jennifer Brown, president of the Bahamas Industrial, Manufacturers & Allied Workers Union (BIMAWU), told Tribune Business the union — which represents around 100 line-staff at the Morton Salt operation — was disappointed by the company’s recent decision to employ part-time workers on the weekend shift. She blasted the move as a “tit for tat” tactic, one she said the BIMAWU would file a trade dispute over.

According to Ms Brown, this latest setback in a long-line of mishaps at the operation came to a head when full-time workers recognised that last weekend’s schedule was made-up exclusively of part-time workers.

She alleged that regular workers were never asked if they wanted to work, a move taken as payback for recent shortfalls in “tonnage” output at the company.

“They’re upset they’re not getting the tonnage they usually get, but what they expect if our workers are disgruntled,” she said on Sunday.

“We will be filing a trade dispute on that. They claim they are working on a counter-proposal. It’s been two weeks now. We have been negotiating for over a year. We are not signing for a 1.5 percent wage increase. That’s an insult. I don’t care what kind of pressure they apply, we’re not accepting that,” she added.

Meanwhile, addressing the matter yesterday, Mr Foulkes said he was awaiting a report on the dispute from the director of labour.

Nonetheless, seemingly bothered by with the ordeal, Mr Foulkes called for peace, stressing that entering negotiations with an attitude of “give and take” would be the only way to reach a resolution.

“I know for the workers in Inagua things are rough; I know that. But the government is very empathetic to the plight of the workers, and the most I can say at this point is I want both sides to give and take,” he said.

“As the minister of labour, I have to stay in the middle. I cannot take sides on any of these issues,” he added.