Frustrated civil service union leaders may have had their last meeting with Public Service Minister Fred Mitchell who admitted that Monday’s negotiations over delayed salary increases for public servants were “tough.”
The sessions brought neither side closer to a compromise in a conflict that has become one of the biggest between the government and trade unions and has escalated into hints of industrial action.
Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) president, John Pinder declared that the government must be willing to “bend over backward,” as the unions have done to avoid a larger conflict.
“We don’t feel that the government respects unions, and so now we have to go back to our people and make the government understand that they have to bend over backward to accommodate us also,” he said.
Civil servants were to have begun receiving salary hikes in July, but the government explained that it would have been impossible without raising taxes. In a compromise of sorts, what union leaders have been asking the government to concede to is a $200 increase for public servants at the end of October and a $400 increase in December.
But Minister Mitchell maintained that the best advice the government has is to stick to its position of beginning the payments in December. Each civil servant is entitled to $100 for 12 months added to their base salaries, which would amount to around $24 million at the fiscal year’s end.
Public sector unions have been locked in negotiations with the government for the past four months in an effort to hammer out an amicable resolution to the ongoing pay dispute.
“After October 28th, we will do what is necessary to cause the government to understand the level of representation we are trying to display to our members,” he said. “…We don’t need to have anymore meetings if we are simply going to continuously talk and there’s no action.”
The promised salary increases is not the only matter that the government is in negotiations with union leaders about. There is also the outstanding issue of public sector promotions. But according to Mr. Pinder the government has also provided “absolutely no resolution to any of the positions put forth by the unions.”
Mr. Pinder is reportedly struggling to calm upset BPSU members, some of whom feel that the union should have already taken action over the issue.
“We are trying to make our members understand that we are giving the government some time to accumulate the money,” he said. “Certainly, if the government had any intention of making any payments in December to the tune of $12 million, some effort must have being made to accumulate these funds. But we are not sure that they will pay in December, so we are simply trying to get the wheel rolling now, and we are hoping that the government shows some commitment to this.”
Following Monday’s meeting, Minister Mitchell acknowledged union leaders’ exasperation. The issue is also affecting thousands of teachers, prison officers, nurses and other government workers. But he pleaded with them to understand the government’s constraints.
“The best advice we have is that the country is best able to bear this, by some reasonable restraint for a few more weeks until the December pay packet,” he said. “We are not talking about a very long time away and we think that this is reasonable given all the constraints in the economy. And the fact is, that that’s the way life is at the moment. These are not simple issues and surely if it was possible for me to write a cheque tomorrow to solve the problem, I would because it does not make sense for the government to involve itself in confrontation with public sector unions, which is clearly not the idea here.”
But the Minister was quick to point out that despite the impasse, yesterday’s meeting brought what he referred to as a bit of good news.
“The request for the service wide promotions is being considered, but in the aggregate, the view is that it all should be dealt with at one time in December, and we’ve taken some steps to see whether or not its possible to ensure that it’s a separate matter, so that people are in a position to have their arrears in plenty of time for Christmas.”
While refusing to comment on the possibility of trade unionists staging a mass strike in the country, Mr. Mitchell would only say that although “anything is possible, he believes “it is unlikely such a position will be taken.”
Minster Mitchell’s was expected to communicate the meeting’s results with his Cabinet colleagues today.
In a recent interview with the Bahama Journal, Bahamas Union of Teachers President, Kingsley Black indicated that he had been canvassing teachers around the country to decide whether the union should stick to its guns and demand an interim payment this month, or whether it would simply wait until the end of the year, as suggested by the government.
Meantime, however, Mr. Pinder told members of the press that he believes that the government,” in its wisdom,” will make good on its promise and deliver the pay increases.
“This is a wise government,” he said.
By Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
