Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou has gained thy brother. – Mathew 18:15
IT HAS BEEN SAID that the family represents the nucleus of society and therefore when family structures are strong, society maintains strength. As we celebrate our 49th year of independence today it would be imperative to remain cognisant that families comprise people with different personalities, desires and views on life and so there will be differences of opinion, quarrels and sometimes serious confrontations. Despite such challenges, family members can also complement each other and represent the last point of defence support against the difficulties of the world.
Blood being thicker than water is more than a clichè. However, we sometimes need a helpful reminder to stop fighting and realise how we benefit from each other. The Social Partnership represents a tripartite arrangement between the Government, the private sector and the labour movement that was established as a systematic response to the macroeconomic problems that were being experienced in the early 1990s. Using the aforementioned family society analogy, the social partners can perhaps be perceived as a family of diverse yet mutually dependent members who are pursuing the socioeconomic well being of Barbados. By extension, the strength of the Social Partnership bears considerable influence on the strength of our society.
More than a decade ago, Professor Hilary Beckles (now Sir Hilary and Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies) touted the Social Partnership as a model that had the potential to facilitate more effective economic planning, human resource mobilisation and macroeconomic management. In similar vein CARICOM Ambassador Robert “Bobby” Morris (then deputy general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ union) articulated that Barbados’ competitiveness and ability to sustain and improve the standard of living would depend on strategic, multi-sectoral collaboration.
Unfortunately, there have been recent utterances in various fora, which suggest that the Social Parntership is under severe threat. For example, members of the labour movement and the private sector have accused the Government of failing to provide full, frank, and timely disclosure of the economic challenges facing Barbados. These labour and private sector representatives have forcefully asserted that, contrary to the spirit and letter of the Social Partnership protocols, the Government has blatantly refrained from engaging them in discussions that can lead to more informed, multifaceted and harmonious socio economic responses that can engender greater domestic and international confidence in our nation’s resolve and resilience.
Conversely, the Government has stated that it is often faced with some unjustifiable criticism and limited tangible support while it seeks to respond to some of the most challenging economic circumstances faced by a post-independence administration. The need for the Social Partnership to effectively and expeditiously resolve the serious concerns that they have been articulating, was highlighted in the May 9, 2014 article titled As I See Things: New Era In Our Governance. In that article, Dr Brian M. Francis, lecture in the Department of Economics at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, stated: “More widespread consultations are necessary if we, as small open economies, are to find the right solutions for the kinds of burning economic and social problems we are confronted with from time to time. And that is indeed the challenge we all as individuals, businesses, trade unions, opposition political parties, civil society, the media, and governments must embrace if indeed we are as serious as we claim about restoring confidence in our economies and societies to round to the benefit of all.”
Two decades later, the Social Partnership continues to afford a tangible mechanism for collaboration among the nation’s key stakeholders (public, private, trade union). It has the potential to facilitate the development and pursuit of organisational and national goals related to management-labour collaboration, innovation, quality, customer service, operational systems, working conditions, skills development, efficiency, employment creation; and to reinvigorate Barbados’ socioeconomic success. For example, in a recent survey on the Social Partnership, British ethical tourism charity Tourism Concern stated: “. . . It is clear that, despite sometimes being problematic, the process has improved working conditions for workers in general.”
As we collectively face the anxiety associated with these challenging times in Barbados, let us remain steadfast in our collective effort as a nation and reflect on a theme exhibited in both a lecture entitled Spirituality And Justice delivered by the President of the Caribbean Court of Justice Sir Dennis Byron, at the eighth annual Sarah Ann Gill Memorial Lecture, and a sermon delivered by assistant priest at the St Thomas Parish Church, Reverend Jerome Small, at a service to commemorate the 54th anniversary of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation – have faith in a better future, empathise with the plight of your fellow man and seek to make a positive difference.
Happy Independence to our beautiful Barbados from the board and secretariat of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation!