So too are Bahamasair workers. And so too, are workers in The College of The Bahamas. And for sure, there are other public sector workers who are upset with the deal they are getting from the current administration.
What makes this situation so very important is the fact that workers are voters. This means that whenever they wish, they can bring a government to grief and despair. These workers who are also voters know as well as anyone else that the choices they make can determine whether one side wins or the other loses.
This means that when workers become restive enough, their approval of this or that politician matters greatly. Compounding the matter in the Bahamian case is the fact that the Bahamian labour force is compact, well organized, knows and feels its power.
Politicians who wish to be re-elected cannot ignore these people and their demands.
No politician worth his salt would ever dare express contempt or disdain for those voters who are workers.
We make this obvious point as we try to make sense of what seems increased restiveness on the part of very many public sector workers.
On occasion, their main gripe seems to concern money. At other times, workers and their representatives seem to be preoccupied with matters germane to respect.
As the current political establishment prepares itself for the upcoming General Elections, the public can take it for granted that the labour movement will have a major say in determining the outcome of that contest.
Current indicators suggest that Bahamian workers are agitated. They want more money and they want to know and believe that they are respected.
Regrettably, politicians pay a price whenever public sector workers are at loggerheads with their employer.
Unlike their counter-parts in the private sector, ministers cannot ignore the fact that when they step forward to bargain with workers, there is always some political element somewhere in the details.
That is why it is always so very instructive to understand the import of some of history’s lessons.
We make this reference to the importance of history as we reflect on what is currently taking place on the industrial scene.
Some public servants are working to rule and others are threatening strike action.
Some people are quite fascinated by what is happening in today’s Bahamas and the extent to which this nation’s political climate is being influenced by organized labour.
Today’s labour situation seems eerily reminiscent of the situation and circumstances that existed in 1999, when the Free National Movement and its leadership found themselves challenged and openly disrespected by angry workers.
As the record shows, those angry voters became the vanguard of a movement that three years later defeated that twice triumphant party on May 2nd. 2002.
As we vividly recall, the new information, datelined NASSAU, Bahamas, March 24 (Reuters) was to the effect that “hundreds of union workers stormed the Bahamas parliament on Wednesday to protest against privatization of the state-owned telephone company, forcing police to bolt the doors of parliament.
“The demonstration in Rawson Square, in the heart of the Bahamian capital, turned ugly when police arrested a labour leader. Some 500 protesters breached police barricades and tried to enter the House of Assembly while lawmakers were in session,” the article said.
The protest was the result of simmering anger over a host of government decisions on labour issues. At a recent rally, telephone company workers tossed beer and peanuts at Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham as he emerged from parliament.
“The government can’t hide now. The time is for the government to come out now and solve this problem,” said Obie Ferguson, president of the Trade Union Congress.
The point we are making is that history teaches that workers can seat or unseat those in power. We are quite certain that the power in this truism is not lost on either the governing Progressive Liberal Party or on its nemeses on the opposition side of the political street in The Bahamas.
As such, it should come as no surprise to any one that Bahamian workers are restive at this precise moment. This is surely due -in part at least- to the fact that workers are voters.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
