The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Mass industrial action by public sector trade unions is now “very unlikely” after the Prime Minister intervened to help all sides “get sober” and make progress in resolving outstanding grievances.

Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, told Tribune Business that “it’s very possible” his umbrella body’s affiliates will resolve most - if not all of - their issues before Christmas after a recent joint resolution to “go on strike” appeared to focus minds on both sides of the negotiating table. 

Arguing that the unions and their concerns were “not being taken seriously” prior to the TUC’s conclave two weeks, he reiterated that industrial action remains “the last resort” following the union movement’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) prior to the 2021 general election.

Mr Ferguson, asserting that the trade unions have kept to the deal with no “significant” industrial action occurring during the Davis administration’s term in office, told this newspaper that the recent conclave and prior mass rally held outside the House of Labour on Wulff Road were necessary steps “in order that we get sensible”.

He explained: “Every affiliate of the TUC that had a problem signed a resolution to go on strike and, obviously, it has had a positive effect on the commencement of these negotiations, which I’ve always felt very strongly should have been done a long time ago.

“Now that we have done that, no one wants to go on strike just because we can go on strike. The whole idea was to do what we have to do in order that we get sensible and try and resolve our differences in the interests of the workers and, certainly, in the interests of our country and get out of the habit that, every time there’s an issue, we have to go on strike to show who’s the strongest.

“That doesn’t make sense to me, but sometimes you have to do that in order to get sober. We are now very sober. I am convinced we can resolve these things. This is one country. The little man, the workers, cannot always be expected to absorb the cost and mismanagement by senior government officials. The Government corporations have to learn to function and function properly.”

Mr Ferguson said his new-found optimism was based on the progress made in negotiations held the Friday before last involving three TUC affiliates - the air traffic controllers’ union; the Consultant Physician Staff Association (CPSA) which represents the senior doctors at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH); and the RM Bailey Park Vendors Association.

“We have had meetings and we are working through things,” the TUC president confirmed. “We are working through things. The ones we have had already, we’ve been able to work through some of the very complicated issues and we are reasonably satisfied so far that we’ll be able to deal with them.”

Noting that there had been “very progressive discussions” over the doctor and air traffic controller concerns, relating to issues over their industrial agreements and back pay, Mr Ferguson said there have also been “meaningful talks” involving the R M Bailey Vendors Association that involve getting them recognised and registered as a trade union.

Disclosing that the negotiations are being handled in blocks of three trade unions at a time, Mr Ferguson said the next trio set to participate in the negotiations are the Public Managers Union and Union of Public Officers, which represent middle management and line staff respectively at the National Insurance Board (NIB). The Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association, representing middle managers at the Grand Lucayan, will also be involved.

“The decision to have a conclave, have a mass rally, and to pass the appropriate resolution by all the unions that have had issues has had a serious impact,” Mr Ferguson told Tribune Business. “We thank the Prime Minister for his intervention. He intervened, and we are having a sensible, rationale discussion about outstanding issues affecting workers in this country.

“The Prime Minister has been very receptive to our problem and I’m satisfied, and my colleagues are satisfied, we will have all our matters resolved before Christmas. That’s certainly the plan of my members, and I’m reasonably optimistic barring unforeseen circumstances and that we do what we did on Friday last week, it’s very possible that if we have not completed all of them, most of the outstanding issues will be resolved before Christmas.”

Asked about the prospect of industrial action occurring, Mr Ferguson replied: “It’s very unlikely, very unlikely. When we signed the MoU [with the then-Opposition PLP] it was the intent we will not be doing strikes. That was the last thing we resort to do. The objective was that we must be able to have access and sit down with people who have the authority and understand industrial relations.

“We have not had any industrial action of any significance in the last three years but that had become very possible. We got to the point where it appeared those responsible for these matters were not taking us very seriously. I told my colleagues: This is what we agreed. We passed a resolution, had a mandate, and all parties signed a resolution committing themselves.

“We weren’t intimidating anyone,” Mr Ferguson added. “We were were saying: ‘We’re going to do what we have to do’. It makes sense they were prepared to sit down and we did the same thing. We as Bahamians have to learn how to communicate with each other, and show the economic circumstances and reasons why certain things cannot happen now or we cannot make it.

“We weren’t threatening anybody. We said we’re going to do something. It was a promise, and now it appears everything is going the way it ought to have been going for the past three years. We have to protect the workers of this country. There’s no Bahamas without the workers. We have to protect The Bahamas, and ensure the workers benefit and don’t sell the workers out for monies or whatever you want to call it.”

Mr Ferguson reiterated that the TUC and its affiliates are prepared to be “reasonable”. He added that if an employer was unable to pay all the monies due to workers when agreed, the two parties would sit down and agree a payment schedule or plan.