Morton (Bahamas) Limited and the Bahamas Manufacturing Industrial and Allied Workers Union (BMIAWU) Officials signed the contract in the presence of the Minister with responsibility for Labour, Vincent Peet, and the press.
But registration of the agreement will be held, pending the successful outcome of further negotiations.
Calling the occasion “historic,” Minister Peet said by signing this agreement, they “agree that they would do what is in the best interest of both the employees and the owners of Morton Salt.”
“This is a further manifestation of the attempt of my Ministry to focus on and encourage harmony in the workplace; to show equal respect for labour and management and capital,” he said.
The ruffled disputes between the feathers of the 50 year-old Bahamian owned and operated company and the 161 non-managerial staff are smoothing out, with spokespersons from each party calling the achievement a “milestone.”
Heading negotiations for BIMAWU was Wilfred Seymour, who called the signing “a milestone in the history of Morton Salt and indeed in the island of Great Inagua .”
“This accomplishment speaks [volumes] for the people of Inagua and it is a reflection of the hard-working and dedicated employees,” he said.
Although there was “reluctance on the part of the company in accepting the establishment of the trade union,” Seymour said he is confident that both Management of Morton Salt and the Executives of BIMAWU are committed to working together in ensuring that the highest level of productivity and efficiency exists in the workplace at Great Inagua.
“We need this partnership to work. I am very happy to see that we have been able to reach this milestone,” said Vice President of Morton’s manufacturing Glen Bannister.
οΎ ”Now we can get back to concentrating on making our company as productive and sufficient as possible so that we could compete in this global environment that we are now in.
“We are very optimistic that with employees and management working together, I am sure that we would be able to overcome all the challenges that lie before us,” he said.
But there is a supplemental agreement yet to be signed. Certain mandatory provisions were unintentionally left out, however the parties have openly agreed to ease any possible difficulties in the supplemental agreement and to mutually strengthen their relationship.
“The parties will, therefore, negotiate an appropriate addition to the supplemental agreement providing for Binding Private Arbitration of all these matters so as to avoid the necessity of involving the Department of Labour and the Industrial Tribunal in any dispute resolution process.
“The parties have agreed to register simultaneously with the Industrial Tribunal both the Industrial Agreement and the Supplemental Agreement,” said a joint statement from the signatories.
Inagua based Morton Bahamas Limited manufactures one million tonnes of salt per year.
The entire product is not used for table salt, said Bannister. Much of it is also acquired by the United States for melting snow on highways and runways.
He said the company aims to produce seven million tonnes per year.
The United States imports 200 million tonnes of salt each year.
