The time is now for the Christie government to stand firm and not allow power hungry leaders like Mr. Pat Bain and Dennis Williams to destroy the economy of The Bahamas. As far as we are concerned, while workers have rights; those of the employers should also be respected and protected.
As a small island developing state, The Bahamas is vulnerable, dependent and subject to any number of challenges over which it has little control. This fact is often missed by a broad cross section of Bahamians.
Highest on that list of people who are apparently oblivious of this fact, are trade union leaders of all stripes. For example, when reasonable people look at what is happening today, as trades union leadership flexes its muscle, they see men who want to make one large demand after the other. They clearly believe that if they push hard enough they can get whatever they want, however they want it.
And as they move to ensure their own positions, they use workers to enhance their prestige. Incidentally, many of these leaders live like lords, while many of their membership are fed the lie that leadership is always working on their behalf.
But for sure, a time comes when union leaders are exposed. This happens on those occasions when they over-reach. One such time is now. There is every indication that Mr. Patrick Bain, the hotel union leader and Mr. Dennis Williams of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union are pushing too hard, asking too much, and are therefore threatening to unleash chaos in this country. These men must be stopped.
In the case of the Hotel Union, Mr. Bain should know that Cable Beach Hotels are hard pressed to pay utility bills and are struggling. To suggest an increase in gratuity to 18 percent is the height of irresponsibility. At BEC, Mr. Williams is not only asking for the ridiculous 26 percent increase in pay over three years, but is asking the corporation to pay school fees for Union members. What nonsense!
On any given occasion, the relations between labour and capital are subject to tension and strife. On other occasions, when the relationship is working as it should, labour and capital work together for the achievement of the common good.
Regrettably, the relation between these two factors of production are not at their best in todayﾴs Bahamas. Workers across the spectrum are making a host of demands on their employers, often with scant attention paid to certain important economic facts of life. In some circumstances, labour leaders are themselves apparently woefully ignorant about some of these facts. Some of them bargain as if money can be conjured up, and then doled out to workers waiting to get their share. This is what is happening in todayﾴs Bahamas, as more and more workers resort to threat and intimidation to cow their employers, and extort money from them.
Irresponsible trade union leaders are today making a major mistake, as they try to press home their unconscionable demands. Highest on the list of the irresponsible are trades union leaders Mr. Patrick Bain, and Dennis Williams. While these leaders have every right to make whatever demands they wish, the government, employers and the people of The Bahamas have every right to resist blackmail demands.
Now that Prime Minister Perry G. Christie has been pulled into the fray, he must do everything in his power to bring these irresponsible Union leaders to their senses. Unless and until this happens, every man, woman and child in this country is in jeopardy. At a time when The Bahamas is struggling to get out from under any number of difficulties, workers and their leaders should not be making egregiously unconscionable demands upon their employers.
Editorial, The Bahama Journal
