LET’S NOT MINCE WORDS here: If the manager of any business in this country ran his operation the way Prime Minister Freundel Stuart respondsto critical issues, each day would be an absolute struggle to survive.
We are 100 per cent sure that the vast majority of Barbadians who watched or listened to the Prime Minister’s post-CARICOM Summit Press conference last Saturday night are still somewhere between shocked and amazed at his comments in relation to the now escalating dispute between the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC).
How in the name of all that is right and proper can the country be on the verge of an industrial relations crisis as a national shutdown looms, and the head of Government in essence declares he is not getting involved unless someone asks him to? Are you serious, Mr Prime Minister? Are you telling the country there is some protocol on which you stand, and from which you will not move, even if the country is plunged into chaos?
Here is what Prime Minister Stuart said: “It is not my habit to inject myself anywhere. I leave that to the doctors and nurses to do. I think that after spending as much money that Barbados has spent on education, and laying claim to all the sophistication to which we have always laid claim, there can be no compromise on our standards at this stage.
“We have standards, we have practices, we have traditions and those traditions, standards and practices have worked for us and I think that if we have standards, traditions and practices that have worked for us, we should continue to pin our faith in them.
“So I don’t know that there is any obligation on my shoulders or any brand of wisdom that should guide me to inject myself anywhere. That is not my approach to public administration and I want that to be made very clear.”
So the head of the family stands and watches his children pound each other in a bloody fight, all the while insisting that until one or the other calls for help he is not getting involved – an absolute dereliction of paternal responsibility. We see no difference in the stance taken by the Prime Minister on Saturday night.
The impact this industrial action can have on Government’s initiatives at economic recovery goes beyond the argument about who is right and who is wrong. In fact, in his own words, at the same Press conference, Mr Stuart declared that a national strike at this time is not in the short-, medium- or long-term interest of the country – and we agree with him.
All that statement does in our view is emphasise the need for him at that time to deliberately inject himself into the dispute.
And in case the Prime Minister was too busy on CARICOM matters and missed what was taking place in his own living room, we venture to point out to him that the current stance of the NUPW and its trade union partners in this dispute has to do with more than BIDC dismissials.
We are in no doubt it is clear to the majority of Barbadians that the BIDC issue was merely the straw the broke the camel’s back. The unions are responding to what they see as a record of unfair practices by the Government and BIDC effectively provides them with the platform from which to scream.
With all respect Mr Prime Minister, don’t wait for “the doctors and nurses”. Inject yourself. That’s what the country expects from its Prime Minister at times like these. There will be other times to stand on protocol, if you believe that is essential. But now is not that time.