WE, LIKE MOST BARBADIANS, are relieved at the degree of progress that has been achieved in the dispute between the Government and the trade unions over the proposed transfer of staff of the Customs and Excise Department to the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA).
We are reasonably sure that the presence and participation of Minister of Finance and Planning Chris Sinckler in Wednesday’s meeting at Government Headquarters contributed to the progress. Prior to this, the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and fledgling Unity Workers Union (UWU) refused to budge from their various positions.
The end result of the two sides holding firm to their positions has been costly. Some manufacturers complained about extreme challenges getting raw materials out of the Bridgetown Port and finished goods exported, retailers suffered as a result of not being able to supply their customers with the items and the volumes they usually require, while just about everyone had a problem with the additional fees that resulted from customs officers clearing goods slowly or not clearing them at all.
The big question now has to be though: did all this have to happen?
For months there was either no discussion or no meaningful discussion. Yet after just two days of talks, in the space of a week, the various parties are well on their way to a satisfactory solution, and customs officers are back on the job. Why could these talks not have taken place earlier?
Why did officials of the Government find it necessary to persist with the disputed option forms all this time, to the point of nearly crippling the country, only to now come around to the position held by the unions all along?
It would be hard for any reasonable person not to understand, appreciate and even support the rationale of Government for wanting to centralise its revenue collecting agencies; but it would be equally hard for that reasonable person to dismiss the matters that were at the heart of the concerns of customs employees.
But perhaps a significant good will come from all this – that in the future there will be a greater appreciation of the need for discussion early, thus eliminating as many of the potentially contentious issues as possible. Additionally, even with all the anticipated benefits these public servants will supposedly get from joining BRA, it cannot be lost on our decision makers that this dispute might have never reached the magnitude it did if such a high percentage of the staff had not been acting.
The workers repeatedly voiced fears about this situation for months and asked questions about the implications should they have challenges working with the Revenue Authority.
Agreeing now to embark on the process of having these workers appointed suggests that they were right all along.
Unfortunately, the situation that existed at the Customs and Excise Department regarding acting appointments is not unique in the Civil Service and it would certainly improve morale and eliminate some of the potential for future industrial relations challenges if Government moved in a deliberate way to remedy this situation.
It really is unreasonable that after a decade or more in a particular job an individual still has to suffer through all the financial indignities that come with the lack of an appointment.
Maybe now, after the Customs dispute, workers in this situation across the board will see improvements.
