Barbados’ oldest trade union, the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), is accusing local businesses of using the COVID-19 pandemic as a foil to make job cuts to their organisations that were in the pipeline long before the health crisis.
However, this scathing indictment on the business sector is being challenged by the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA), whose president, Edward Clarke, is calling on the union to produce the evidence to back up their claim.
In addition, lamenting the slow pace at which the system of labour administration was responding to the pervading “industrial relations crisis”, the BWU warned that a shift from their conciliatory approach, to one that is more militant, may now be necessary in order to get justice for workers.
During a press conference at the union’s headquarters at Solidarity House, BWU general secretary Toni Moore said while it is understood that COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on all sectors of the economy, it could not be used as an excuse to abandon labour laws and industrial relations practices. (CLM)
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