Franklyn forms trade union

Barbados has a new trade union – the Unity Workers Union (UWU).General secretary Caswell Franklyn, who officially registered the union yesterday, said Grantley Adams International Airport workers were expected to be among the first members.“They asked me to launch the union to represent them because they are dissatisfied with their present representation,” he told the DAILY NATION.However, the former National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) grievance/industrial relations officer pointed out that UWU membership was open to all categories of workers in the public and private sectors.CompetitionThe union, which operates from Lot No.8 Welchman Hall, St Thomas, adds competition to an industrial relations field long dominated by the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) and the NUPW.Franklyn said that a number of workers had become disillusioned and “frustrated” with the BWU and the NUPW, partly because of industrial disputes that did not end to their satisfaction.The last major general workers’ union launched here was the Barbados Industrial & General Workers Union (BIGWU), formed in 1982, with lawyer/politician Robert “Bobby” Clarke as leader.The union, which once claimed a membership of 3 000, had faded from the industrial scene by 1985 after a flurry of activity that included strikes and demonstrations.Franklyn said UWU’s launch did not mean more industrial unrest.“We are knowledgeable and trained,” he said.“So we can negotiate ourselves out of almost any situation.