ASHTON TURNEY “eats, drinks, and lives” the credit union movement.
He and the Barbados Workers’ Union Co-operative Credit Union Limited (BWUCCUL), an institution to which he has given 25 years of unbroken service, are virtually inseparable.
Turney’s passion for the cooperative movement, which has also seen him serve on the executive of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU) and represent the region internationally, was not immediate. Even though he joined BWUCCUL in 1985 – two years after its establishment – it was not until 1990 that he started to serve, becoming a member of the credit committee.
“The credit union was formed out of the Barbados Workers’ Union and we had a meeting with comrade [Robert “Bobby”] Morris at the time, and I joined.
“I was going to the meetings and so on but never got involved in serving the union, but in 1990, I attended a meeting and got talkative and Pauline Lady Walcott told me I had to try and get on a committee and she nominated me for the credit committee, and I got on that year and served with Henderson Scott, and comrade Morris,” he recounted to BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY while sitting in BWUCCUL’s boardroom.
“That’s how I started out in terms of serving. I joined the credit union after it was introduced to us but I didn’t know anything about credit unions then. July 21 was 25 unbroken years in the movement, which includes this credit union itself, umbrella body the Barbados Co-operative & Credit Union League Limited, CCCU, and I also served as a World Council delegate for CCCU.
“I have been president of BWU credit union on two occasions, I was president of the League on two occasions also. I was vice-president of CCCU for three years, 2004 to 2007,” he added.
Today, Turney is deputy chairman of BWUCCUL’s supervisory committee and a director of the League.
One could say this credit union veteran’s extension of service from BWUCCUL to the League was a baptism of fire, coming as it did when there was a controversial split of the movement, with some large players – Barbados Public Workers Co-operative Credit Union Limited, City of Bridgetown Co-operative Credit Union Limited, and Barbados Police Co-operative Credit Union Limited – opting to form their own national body.
“I took over the League’s presidency from Sir Harcourt Lewis and those credit unions had left the League so I found myself in the position where we had to keep the League together, we had to fight CCCU because they were more leaning towards the new body taking over as the Barbados body within CCCU, so we had to fight that off,” Turney noted.
“The League in itself, because the [largest] credit unions left, had a big dent in its financials, so I had to lead the way in terms of getting the League restructured. We had to reduce staff and depend upon the support of the credit unions that had not left. I had the full support of my own credit union.”
Those “break away” unions eventually returned and Turney was again in the hot seat, serving as chairman of the reconciliation committee deemed necessary. It is a time he remembers as “very, very challenging”, but one which he believes has made the movement stronger today.
This included fortifying Co-operators General Insurance Company Limited, a general insurance company established in 1993 and which is owned by the League and 28 credit unions.
While most would consider the split a low point for the movement, Turney said his time as a credit unionist has had far more ups than downs. The “high point” that brought him to tears was being in a Howard Johnson Hotel in Miami and receiving notification that an application for the Inter-American Development Bank to support the League’s institutional strengthening was approved.
He was also pleased with the movement’s overall progress, pointing to acquisitions of companies, opening of new branches, and incorporation of the latest technology, including online services, by BWUCCUL and others in recent years.
“Over the years, the credit unions have lent significant sums of money towards mortgages. To me, the credit unions are really responsible for building the middle class in Barbados,” he asserted.
In terms of the BWUCCUL, Turney said the removal during his tenure of the restriction on non-BWU members on joining the credit union contributed to its expansion.
“We had some objections but eventually we got it through and that helped to build the growth. New members bring new money, so that helped to build the credit union. When we celebrated 15 years, we probably were only about $15 million in assets. The credit union now is $97 million in assets, so we have really grown over the years and we added more staff,” he said.
“We opened a branch in Speightstown somewhere around 2005 and only this year we now have a branch in Oistins. When I came into the credit union the secretary was still the manager of the credit union as a volunteer, but over the years we have developed a professional staff and that has helped us a lot.”
In recent times, it has not been all smooth sailing for the credit union movement, a point Turney acknowledged. He noted that “the change in the allowance for savings really impacted on the individual members”, and that “the tax on credit unions is a big lash that means you would be able to do less in terms of goodwill”.
To help negate such challenges, the League “is looking to see how they could have shared services, where each credit union wouldn’t have to go out there and do their own thing”.
Turney remains unconvinced that there is a need for credit unions to start their own bank, a view he shares with the BWUCCUL.
“I am not supportive of the bank. Yes, I believe that there should be an institution that the credit unions could bank their monies at, which is a credit union for credit unions, and the model that we should have gone with. I am wary of having a credit union bank that is going to compete against the same credit unions with the same services, but even though I don’t think we need the bank I am not opposing it,” he said.
For the future, he thinks there will be a need for some credit unions to amalgamate, especially some small ones that are unable to offer members major loans like mortgages.
He also wants to see the movement’s further expansion into the community, attracting young members to keep it alive when the veterans are no longer there, while also helping non-financial cooperatives to thrive.
For BWUCCUL, he is seeing a future of growth and hopefully the construction of a new headquarters to replace the existing one at the corner of Fairchild and Nelson Streets, Bridgetown, the building that was the BWU’s headquarters from 1941 to 1983.
And while he plans to retire from the League’s committees and board after his current term ends next year, Turney said he would serve the BWUCCUL “as long as God gives me health”.
“This is part of my life and I eat, drink and live credit unions and BWU credit union. As long as the members elect me, I will make myself available to BWU credit union,” he said.
