After signing a new agreement last November, union officials said they realized that the contract was defective as there were no provisions in place to resolve certain labour disputes.
President of the Bahamas Industrial Manufacturers and Allied Workers Union Wilfred Seymour over the weekend blamed Labour Minister Vincent Peet for “simply adding fuel” to existing tensions between the company and the union. But Minister Peet, in an interview with the Bahama Journal Saturday, dismissed that allegation.
Mr. Seymour said that, Minister Peet’s recent intervention into the long and exhaustive fight between the two parties has only worsened the present situation.
“I don’t see what the Minister is trying to do as an attempt to resolve the issue,” he said. “Instead, he seems only to be adding more fuel to the fire and initiating labour unrest here in Inagua.”
On Thursday Minister Peet said he met for almost four hours with attorneys for both Morton Bahamas Ltd. and its union.
At that time, he proposed that the union agree with the company’s decision to have a binding arbitration clause in place for a trial period of 15 months.
In such a case, the BIMAWU would forfeit its right to go to court over labour disputes. In the event, the agreement did not work out, however, the parties would begin negotiations once again after the 15-month period.
But according to Mr. Seymour, the fact that the arbitrators are being recommended by the Morton salt company, only compounds the problem further, as management is reportedly not willing to accept the decision of its own panel.
“The Minister has said that the issue between Morton and its union would be resolved within a week or so, but this is clearly not the case,” Mr. Seymour said. “The union is accused of not having patience, but how much patience is the union expected to have, considering the many broken promises we’ve had to live with.”
While the company delays the finalization of the contract – the terms and conditions of the contract’s Arbitration clause remains the only outstanding issue – Mr. Seymour said, employees are being treated unfairly, discriminated against, and taken advantage of.
According to the union president, the company unilaterally changed the terms and conditions of its maintenance employees contract following last year’s implementation of the 44-hour workweek, to avoid paying overtime. He added that the company is now requesting that the same employees, who work from Tuesday to Saturday, also work Mondays without being paid double time.
“It is clear as day that the company has no regard for [its] employees’ well being,” he said. “[It] not only breaches [its] terms of employment, but also have no regard for labour laws. The union is hoping that the government does the right thing and protects the working people of Inagua.”
This latest incident has only flared existing tensions between the company and its union.
Earlier this month, the union president threatened a strike. But some union members said they knew nothing of the plan. One Morton employee even denied workers were having problems with the company’s managers.
Meanwhile, Minister Peet said that having concluded last week’s meeting, he was under the very “clear impression that the two parties were moving closer together, that the proposals were being considered and that the union’s chief advisor- Mr. Obie Ferguson – had moved forward with the idea”
Earlier today, Mr. Ferguson agreed to call the Minister again, in another attempt to resolve the issue.
Last November, the company and the union signed a new industrial agreement in the presence of Minister Peet and reporters.
Calling the occasion “historic” Minister Peet said by singing the agreement, both sides “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 of focus on and encourage harmony in the workplace; to show equal respect for labour and management and capital,” he said.
Registration of the agreement was put off, pending the successful outcome of further negotiations.
By Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
