I think that everyone knew, including the rum shop owner and the mother of five, that some serious action had to be taken for quite a well now. Most of us would have wanted the Government to wake up from its inertia and stop dithering over the serious economic problems the country has been facing long before the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came and forced them to.
The recent announcement by the Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler that the Government intends to send home temporary Government workers is like an anti-climax to a very bad suspense thriller. After denying that there was a problem and therefore shutting the door to creating solutions, the Government moved to taxing the pants of the population in the hope that the problem would fade away. After this did not work it once more buried its head in the sand under the cover of careful deliberations. Clearly that did not yield much. The solution to axing 3 000 jobs between January and March is a short-term solution of desperation. All the analysis suggests that the Government will need to do more to reverse the downward spiral occasioned by its systematic inaction. What it has done is to place the immediate burden on the shoulder of those in the public service who least can afford it. I am positive that in the new year it will have to come back to the public to unleash another set of actions which will invariably include some measure of privatization and other austerity cuts.
Of course the Government action would have the support of the private sector. Once the solution does not endanger the assistance that Government will provide for them they have no reason to complain and can afford to tell temporary workers to take one for team Barbados. Quite interesting for me has been the stance of some sections of the trade union movement who were very quick to tell former prime minister Owen Arthur that no one can set their agenda but I have yet to hear them hold government accountable first of all for breaking their promises, secondly for delaying action and creating the current situation and thirdly for announcing a solution that jeopardizes the very livelihood of their membership.
I am all for looking at solutions and exercising restraint but the trade union movement I thought I understood was also based on a philosophical tenet which called a wrong a wrong. The movement I thought I understood saw the integrity of the process as important as the outcome itself. Offering solutions does negate holding the Government accountable. It seems that in this moment they are prepared to let Government off the hook and move swiftly to negotiating alternatives. I suspect that this will be a defining moment for the trade union movement which will be the hallmark of how it is treated by governments and how it can find itself responding in the future.
Nevertheless, I also note with further interest that the trade union movement is now doing the job of the better qualified and more highly paid economists, elected Cabinet ministers and high-end civil servants by attempting to come up with innovative alternatives which will stave off the impending dismissals. I can only hope that the Government will be willing to do what it clearly was not interested in doing previously – engage and take on board their proffered solutions.
It can actually be a political win-win for both sides. If the Government changes its position it can gain political marks for listening to the workers’ representative and the trade union will get props for exercising maturity and restraint. Never mind that the Government will not take responsibility for the situation and the trade union will not acknowledge the philosophical weakness of its position.
I would also like to suggest that perhaps the Opposition should reflect on its stance. What’s your solution? What would you do differently? Making noise about the process under which the dismissals should take place speaks to acquiescence and offers nothing substantive to the situation. Asking the Government to cut the Cabinet comes across as petty political speak if it isn’t backed up by a clear proposal. The current offerings by the BLP do not imbue confidence that it would do much differently. In this respect I would say take a leaf out of the trade union movement’s current play book and offer alternatives that demonstrate that you have thought the current situation through; other than that everything else is background noise.
As it stands, I hope that we will brace ourselves for a very difficult 2014. Even if we move to a situation where Government workers take a pay cut that will not stop the hardships or stem the economic downturn. As individuals we need to exercise wisdom over our finances and our spending and do as much as we can to begin to think now of our plan As and Bs should the worst come to pass.
My only solace is that we have God who is always gracious and merciful. Let’s make sure that we remember him in this season and ask for his covering for the New Year and beyond.
Merry Xmas and a new year full of blessings to all.
Shantal Munro-Knight is a development specialist and executive coordinator at the Caribbean Policy Development Centre.