THOUGH I’M NOT AN ARDENT FAN of the trade union movement, having been turned off several years ago by the idiosyncracies of the Kayaki King, there’s still empathy for members and respect for its lofty principles.
That’s why I’m more than a little concerned today over repeated complaints from constituent members of the umbrella body, the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations (CTUSAB), about the failure of this Administration to consult with the respective unions on critical issues.
Leaders of CTUSAB and member body, the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), have been lamenting a “consultation crisis” which, according to Mary Redman, is at an “epidemic” stage.
It appears that it’s going to take more than a nine-day national strike and the effective closure of the two main ports of entry for several hours on the final day by the most powerful private sector union, the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), to bring this seemingly incorrigible Administration to the table.
In this our 50th anniversary year, with the eyes of the world upon an island that has built up an enviable reputation for civility and socioeconomic and political stability, it is distressing to have to agree with the Cassandras who are predicting more unrest on the industrial relations front, even as a Government must perforce keep its eye on the election clock.
But it is becoming hard not to, when despite the very recent evidence to suggest that it no longer can, this Administration nevertheless seems determined to try to bend the labour movement to its will by a perverse blend of coercion and stoic indifference.
Another aspect of the national conversation about this Administration’s relationship with labour caught my attention.
It was a recollection by UWI political scientist Dr Tennyson Joseph of the observations made by DLP campaign manager for the 2013 general election, Robert (Bobby) Morris.
It is particularly noteworthy that Morris is a retired deputy general secretary of the BWU, and he attributed the DLP’s victory to the fact that the trade unions had stayed on the side of the Government in the period leading up to the poll.
“He offered further that a key sign of regime change in Barbados was strikes and labour unrest in the pre-election period,” Joseph noted.
“Significantly, his smugness betrayed a certainty of assurance that the Government had little to fear from the trade union movement. Indeed, it was troubling that a party operative would so openly acknowledge his party’s gratitude to the trade unions with little thought for the diminution of the trade union leaders which such a comment would elicit.
“Perhaps this smugness was borne from the fact, exemplified by Morris himself, of the number of leading trade unionists with past and present associations with the DLP.”
Maybe too, the current crop of wannabe trade unionists/politicians should reflect on the political price the Kiyaki King paid after giving up his Independent platform to side with Errol Barrow and the DLP.
In his book, Eyewitness To Order And Disorder (2012), THE NATION newspaper’s Editor Emeritus Harold Hoyte recalled: “After faithfully serving Grantley Adams and the BLP, Walcott, rather early in his career (1955), left the BLP to become an independent candidate even though he was perceived to be closely aligned with Barrow and the newly-formed DLP.
“He only formalised his association with that party for the 1971 election. He won two consecutive elections as an independent in 1956 and 1961, but lost to a BLP candidate, Truth newspaper publisher Burton Hinds in the 1966 general election.
“He ran only twice on a DLP ticket, winning St Michael West (now North West) in 1971 against Elombe Mottley and losing to Vic Johnson in 1976.
“He remained faithful to the DLP until his retirement from public life, but his ‘association’ had the effect of ‘including’ the union within the fold of the DLP.”
As Joseph noted, the recent spate of industrial unrest suggests strongly that Morris’ claim of a quiescent trade union movement no longer holds.
“Given the perception of the DLP’s 2013 campaign manager that his party’s electoral success was linked to a friendly union movement, it is expected that in the months ahead, some pitched battles will be fought in the bosom of the trade union movement as a prelude to the coming electoral battle.” Selah.
Albert Brandford is an independent political correspondent. Email: albertbrandford@nationnews.com
