The government wants to offer contracts to public service workers to bust unions and “duck” paying pensions, said John Pinder, president of The Bahamas Public Services Union.
He also said the government had not consulted the union about its plan to employ new workers on contract as part of its public sector reform.
Mr Pinder was a guest on Island 102.9 FM’s Sunday afternoon talk show “Parliament Street,” hosted by attorneys Anthony Delaney and Fayne Thompson.
He was responding to comments made by the Minister for Public Service, Fred Mitchell who said on July 28, that the union was aware that some younger Bahamian workers would prefer having a contract of limited duration, and look forward to a gratuity, rather than a pension entitlement thirty years in the future.
“It is my belief that the government is only trying to get out of paying civil servants pensions. That’s why they want put them on contract, it ain’t have nothing to do with no public sector reform,” he said.
Mr Pinder said if it was the government’s intention to get out of the business of paying pensions to public servants, it should seek to adopt a contributory pension plan system and a pension trust fund.
“And let me tell you. I don’t care what they tell me, it’s a union busting tactic. They would start with the public service, which is the biggest union in the government, then they gon mash up the teachers, then they gon mash up the nurses and then they gon go right through. Before you know it, there’ll be no more unions in the country,” he emphasised.
He explained that all government contracts were designed in such a way that at the end of the duration of the contract, an employee would receive fifteen percent remunerations or gratuity, which is usually a total sum of the salaries earned over the three-year period of that contract.
“So they total it up and they give you fifteen percent as a gratuity. You don’t get a pension but you get it as a gratuity.”
He said the “dilemma” with this gratuity is that a supervisor making the same salary as his or her subordinate would not receive that gratuity.
“And if we allow that to happen, for the most part, persons in the public service would prefer to take that route. Now the question is would they allow these contract workers to be unionised?” he asked.
He said based on the structure of the public service, a contractual worker would not be considered a public service worker.
Making reference to an International Labour Organisation Convention, the BPSU president said it stipulated that any employee could join any union of his or her choice. In this vein, he said with contracts, outlining all job expectations, rights and benefits, which would be signed by an employee, there would be no need for that employee to join a union for representation.
However, he explained that he supported managers’ contracts, saying if an employee was “catching hell” from a supervisor, at least that hell would be for a limited period because when the manager leaves, “Praise the Lord.”
Mr Pinder also responded to the charge that the BPSU was not interested in public sector reform to improve productivity in the country. He said nothing could be further from the truth.
He admitted however, that there were a number of public service workers who do not give the government a full days’ work for a full days’ pay. He estimated the number of unproductive public service workers to be in the neighbourhood of 15 percent, but quickly stressed that the union was not an advocate for laziness or sloppiness in the workplace.
The union president also agreed that the pervasive mindset of a government job being one for life was detrimental to productivity and added that all union members ought to be made aware of the importance of productivity from a national and global perspective.
He said the present BPSU administration supported public sector reform and productivity, and was also an advocator of the concept of flexitime. He said all public service officers do not need to be on the job at 9 am. Some could go in at 10 or 11am and leave eight hours later at 6 and 7 pm, giving the general public longer hours of service.
He said this was one way that productivity could be improved, as there would be less traffic on the streets at 8 am. He said once an employee gave the government eight constructive hours of work, there should not be a problem.
“And we want the government to stop only looking at added qualifications as a criteria for promotion. This is what is killing the public service. Most persons in the public service have that experience; they could perform at the next level but they are being beat beside their head, saying you gatta go get the BA, you gatta go get the Masters and that is a problem,” he said.
Mindell Small, The Nassau Guardian
