It’s a situation that many industry players and businesspeople continue to observe as the union continues to hold on to the option to strike as it makes demands for a new contract for hotel workers at 11 properties.
Bahamas Chamber of Commerce President Winston Rolle believes that while it has been traditionally accepted that unions threaten industrial action to agitate the government to act, union leaders now have to examine what role they should play in the workplace.
But Mr. Rolle believes that more business leaders should embrace the unions, viewing them as partners.
“When employers sit to put together business plans for the upcoming year, to some degree, union leaders should be a part of this because any business is only as good as its employees,” he said.
Mr. Rolle added though that unions should not be over demanding as they must realize that entrepreneurs expect a certain degree to return on their investments.
“If no return is coming back from that investment,” he said, “then [there is very little] that business owners will be able to do for themselves much less unions or employees.”
Last year, the government witnessed several tense moments between union leaders and employers that continued well into the Christmas holidays.
Leading the pack were members of the hotel union who took a strike vote last month.
Mr. Rolle, meanwhile, believes that the “entitlement attitude” that some employees have adopted, must be abandoned.
“When you are hired to do a job, you are expected to perform at a certain level in order to continue keeping that job,” he said. “But people tend to think that because they have been at a particular workplace for so long, they are entitled to something…But if you want to get out of that salary range, you need to invest some time in yourself and improve your skills in order to move to another level. And this is the mentality that we need to be fostering.”
According to the Chamber of Commerce president, if the country is to become a more productive society, the concerns surrounding regional trade arrangements like the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) would be significantly reduced.
If the Bahamas joins these arrangements and becomes a member of the World Trade Organization, certain sectors of the economy would be open to expatriate labour and involvement by multi-national corporations.
Using the opportunity to cite a few challenges The Bahamas faces in joining the CSME, Mr. Rolle said while it is often argued that such a decision should be made for both geographical and social reasons, there is no economic advantage for the country in joining the arrangement.
On the same token, he added, everything The Bahamas does is accomplished on the premise of it being a part of the Caribbean.
He said: “Our negotiations in the FTAA is as a member of CARICOM. So if we’re negotiating as a part of CARICOM, but not prepared to join, that’s contradictory.”
Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
