AFTER THE MAY DAY RAGE that resulted in a very disturbing racial slur from this country’s quite powerful trade union leader and the subsequent expression of fear by a terrified businessman for the physical safety of his family, a curtain of silence has fallen on the outcome of a scheduled meeting last Monday between offender and offended.
Even without my mentioning names, readers would be aware that the core subject matter of today’s column has to do with that most surprising verbal blast by Sir Roy Trotman, general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), last May Day, hurled at Diamonds International businessman Jacob Hassid, describing him as an “Egyptian Jew”.
Events showed the facts that provoked the vehement denunciation of Hassid by Sir Roy – a most respected labour leader of Barbados and the Caribbean region – were wrong and had to be hastily corrected by Hassid, who has been living and doing business here for many years.
Whoever may have innocently misled the BWU’s general secretary, we were to soon learn that Hassid had not dismissed, as claimed, 20 of his 130 employees but seven of them for reasons he sought to justify but which the union boss thought unacceptable. Relatedly, fear of suffering a similar fate to the seven had apparently led a group of workers of the jewellery store to seek protection from the BWU.
Whether or not the workers’ fears were legitimate, they exercised their fundamental right to ensure job security by turning for guidance to the best known organized union in this country. Regrettably, however, things fell apart between the time of their meeting with the BWU and when Sir Roy addressed that May Day rally at Browne’s Beach.
Crucial question: what’s the relevance of Hassid’s nationality and religion to the claimed threatened dismissal of a group of workers in his employ? Sir Roy later compounded the problem by declaring that he had “nothing to apologize for”. Nevertheless, he did inform the media that a meeting had been scheduled for him and Hassid to deal with the controversy this past Monday.
Like colleagues of mine, not to mention the public at large, I was anxious to learn about the outcome of that announced private meeting. So I made three attempts to contact Sir Roy, but without success. I left my name and number on his telephone but had no response up to the time of writing.
A colleague’s attempt to obtain a response from the businessman also proved unsuccessful. So, after the verbal storm, there hangs a curtain of silence! As Trinis love to remark, “Yuh think it easy”!!
• Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist. Email [email protected]
