Granted the importance of the tourism industry to the livelihood of all Bahamians, the time has come for the Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas to bring closure to the matter involving hotel workers, their leaders and the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association. The Christie administration must use whatever means that are necessary to avert disaster.
We agree with The Bahamas Hotel Employers Association when they say that since 9/11, tourism is not doing well at all. And for sure, most sensible Bahamians would agree with them that the tourism industry world-wide is becoming more competitive. And, too, we emphatically agree with them when they say that The Bahamas is a very high cost destination. But, well beyond these matters, we are also constrained to suggest that union leaders and their followers should take a long hard look at what their bargaining methods are already costing the Bahamas.
In a world where nowhere is any longer far away, and in which communications are instant, these union leaders and their followers ought to be very careful. Their words are being transmitted – even as they are being uttered – to an increasingly skittish world audience. In today’s climate of threat and fear, nobody needs more reason for apprehension.
What is particularly disturbing about the current trend in the negotiations between the hotel union leaders and the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association, is that union leaders and their followers are apparently oblivious to the effect of the fear they already inspire in very many of the guests who are in the Bahamas, and the tens of thousands on the way.
Whether they believe it or not, threatening industrial action has already been costly. So, even while we have already voiced our share of concerns about the downside of a strike, today we reiterate our call for labour leaders to stand down from some of their more extreme demands; express their desire for an amicable agreement; and do everything in their power to avert catastrophe. Union leadership, workers and the country at large have reached a watershed in the matter involving terms and conditions for the employment of labour in the hotel industry.
Our considered judgment and conclusion, is that nothing of any value can be gained for anyone in an atmosphere charged by conspiracy thinking and incipient paranoia.
Regrettably, some of this seems to have seeped into the negotiating process between labour leaders and The Bahamas Hotel Employers Association. Again, regrettably, this has happened because of the existence of a long standing existence of a reservoir of ill-will between Bahamian workers and employers, particularly where they are foreigners. For the most part, this has come about because of cultural differences, and any number of misunderstandings. One at the top of the list concerns the capacity of business to meet current and future demands, in an industry prone to any number of ups and downs.
Hotel workers need to get it straight in their heads that while they have every right in the world to get the best deal possible, they ought to be careful that they and their leaders not stress and stretch the system to the limits of its carrying capacity.
We agree with the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association when it says that the main effects of a strike would be devastating to everyone. They say – and we agree – that the effects of a strike would include, among other things, the following: employees will lose their wages; employees will lose their gratuities; tourists will leave the country; tourists will bad mouth the Bahamas when they get home; and future business will be lost due to the growing impression that the Bahamas is unstable.
From our vantage point we proffer the advice that union leaders and their supporters should accept the offer put to them by the Hotel Employers Association. Since absolutely no face is lost, when people decide to act reasonably and responsibly, we call on all sides to continue to respect each other. In the ultimate analysis, labour and capital need each other.
There is a dimension to this matter which needs to be cited. In a turbulent global environment in which capital is highly mobile, investors are always in search of places which are stable. In this kind of work, perceptions often count as much as objective reality. Hotel workers and their leaders need to understand that they can – in one fell swoop – destroy the economy of the Bahamas.
Editorial, The Bahama Jouurnal
