The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

MORE than half of the industrial agreements negotiated under the Davis administration have been registered, according to Minister of Labour and the Public Service Pia Glover-Rolle.

Twelve of the 23 industrial agreements have been registered with seven in the final stages of registration and provisions being made for the four outstanding agreements.

Ms Glover-Rolle was responding to Michael Pintard’s assertion that the majority of industrial agreements signed during the Davis administration were not registered during the mid-year budget debate in Parliament yesterday.

She said: “The majority of the labour agreements that have been signed are either registered or in the final stages of the registration process. Of the 23 agreements signed up to December of 2023, 12 are completed, signed, registered. An additional seven have been reviewed and vetted with recommendations made for adjustments to be made in preparation for registration.

“And just up to yesterday, two of those seven, who there were made adjustments on have been completed. In total, that means that 19, because you said majority, 19 of the 23 agreements have either been finalised and registered, or in the final stages of registration, with the process being made for the additional four now.”

She said that the pace that the Davis administration has been signing industrial agreements is “anything but typical” and that any conjecture of issue with the registration of industrial agreements are “simply unfounded”.

She said: “Any speculation about major issues we are having with registering these agreements is simply unfounded. This is a normal part of the process when it comes to registration. Any adjustments that need to be made, goes back to the registrar completed, normal part of the process. So any suggestion that registration hasn’t been completed is inaccurate.

“Typically, the process takes about two months, and that’s based on typical output. The pace at which we’ve been signing agreements has been anything but typical. The registrar’s office was inundated with an historic amount of agreements, but we’re still completing them. This kind of success has never been seen before. Simple as that, and it’s definitely not been seen under your administration.”

Ms Glover-Rolle said there were no issues with employees receiving their wages or benefits outlined in the industrial agreements and that $18m has been given in wages as a result of pro- motions and benefits negotiated in the completed agreements.

She said: “As for the assertion, because there was another assertion that the people had issues with receiving their pay and benefits in fulfilment of the agreements. Well, it should be noted that in some instances, we didn’t even wait for the agreements to be signed.

“We went ahead and made adjustments in good faith with full confidence that the agreement would be finalized. That $18m increase that you see in the budget in wages and salaries, that is what is entailed. It’s reflected in the budget. That is the $18m as a result of promotions, and benefits of signed, completed registered industrial agreements that the employees have received.

“So I hope that for the benefit of the Bahamian people, and the Leader of the Opposition’s speculation that has now been satisfied.”

She said the Davis admistration plans to sign more industrial agreements in the coming weeks and are being “proactive” in ensuring agreements are not outstanding long after they have expired.

She said: “We’re also targeting the signing of more labour agreements. In fact, we expect a few more will be signed over the next few weeks. For the first time ever, the government is sustaining a consistently proactive approach to labour relations. We aren’t waiting until existing agreements expire about to expire to scramble to the negotiation table.

“We have regular meetings with all labour stakeholders and an open door policy for union leaders and employees to reach out to make us aware of emerging issues as we look ahead to the expiration of a few of the signed agreements over the next few years. We anticipate that we will replicate our current success”