His comment came at the Bahamas Business Outlook forum at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort.
The governor was making his address, which focused at one point on industrial relations, as The Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union and The Bahamas Hotel Employers’ Association worked toward concluding 16 months of talks for a new industrial agreement for hotel workers.
“The influence of labour leaders as distinct from the union members is currently far in excess of what it should be given what they represent,” the Central Bank governor said. “One can wonder if they have not been allowed to redirect the administration of labour, far too much in the direction of their own private interests.”
Mr. Francis proposed two solutions that he indicated must happen quickly to alleviate labour tensions.
He said: “There needs to be a careful reflection on the operation of labour unions to ensure that they do not continue to capriciously hold the economy at ransom.
“Secondly, the institutionalization of a meaningful forum between labour, industry and government as employer needs to be pursued. This would develop a better appreciation by labour of its appropriate place in the economy and to provide a long-term stable framework within which orderly negotiations and other issues could be pursued.”
The question now stands regarding whether The Bahamas is ready for such types of reform, to which he immediately answered, “for the most part, certainly not.”
“There is a pervasive Bahamian desire to resist change and to assume that our country can continue to enjoy the fruits of our traditional good fortune without any particular effort on our part,” he said. “But this is a badly mistaken view which does not recognize the fact that we demand an ever increasing level of improved standards and qualify of life.”
The government’s assessment of trade unionism in The Bahamas follows many other similar comments made in recent weeks.
Just yesterday, Christian Council President Bishop Sam Greene slammed trade union leaders, accusing them in general of not demanding productivity from their members.
Meanwhile, the governor on Tuesday also said that unless The Bahamas embraces reform the way it has pursued developments, the improvements it has enjoyed over the past decades will become increasingly difficult to realize.
Mr. Francis indicated that while the tourism and financial services sectors have remained stable over the years, there is still considerable room for reform in such areas.
Such reform, he said, would provide both the flexibility and efficiency that businesses must have to plan and develop in an orderly way.
“The Bahamas needs to overcome the underlying unwillingness to accept the meaningful and equal participation of our economy by persons from elsewhere,” he said. “…I would say that we are not sufficiently open to this idea. The thing is if we were to wait for attitudes to shift in order to accept these kinds of reforms, our economy risks missing out on the important need to position itself today in the global environment.
Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
