THE NEW YEAR ushers in a period of austerity for the economy in line with the expectation of the International Monetary Fund and other lending agencies and it behoves all of us to put our hands to the plough and do our part in the country’s hour of need.
Unfortunately, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) is making a last desperate attempt to make counter-proposals to Government’s about its stated intention to cut 3 000 workers from the public service.
At this stage the NUPW is merely throwing a monkey wrench among the pigeons. Despite the obvious hardship, even a 100 per cent pay cut would not solve Government’s fiscal problem because the Civil Service has become bloated, padded over the years by politicians, and must be trimmed by whatever means necessary.
According to the NUPW and the Barbados Employers’ Confederation, the protocol to the Social Partnership has not been followed to the letter or the spirit, but everybody knows for some time now that the fiscal position was on a runaway train and nothing significant was done to contain it.
The partnership, an offshoot of the 1991 economic crisis, has had a recent velvet divorce from the Barbados Workers’ Union. In many respects it was a contradiction to many political socialists among us, but was clearly a marriage of convenience or at worst a “forced marriage”.
In fact, whilst the private sector workers were being retrenched, Government continued to haemorrhage the economy with a trail of red ink in order to save public workers’ jobs.
The moment of truth has now come and any further vacillation will result in a train wreck for all of us. The spectre of unions putting forward their own proposals at this late but delicate stage undermines the resolve and authority of Government.
While we are grateful for small mercies, the country needs a strong dose of inspired political leadership in the New Year to motivate us to ride out our difficulties with shared sacrifice and shared vision for future prosperity. Biblical invocations alone are not going to do it.
The economic situation has to be managed very carefully as the next few weeks are going to be very difficult and will no doubt set the tone for economic stability during the year ahead.
The global picture is also fraught with terror and instability. The 2011 Arab Spring which brought initial hope for democracy has now blossomed into a winter of widespread discontent and carnage across the horn of Africa to the Middle East. Sudan is now a reference point for division and secession.
The referendum vote in 2012 had implications for Africa, signalling that colonial borders are no longer sacrosanct. We could see the “balkanisation of the continent” along tribal and sectarian lines.