Barbadian labour’s core principles have been sacrificed on the altar of “popularity and egotism”, and trade unions must urgently reassert unity to remain credible, business expert Dr Hensley Sobers warned at a key gathering of union delegates on Thursday.
He told the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) that it must once again present itself as a catalyst for solidarity.
“CTUSAB must reassert itself as the unified national body of all trade unions and staff associations, representing the interests of workers and advancing the overall well being,” Dr Sobers said. “The outcome of your efforts must be a renewed resolution and perception that trade unions in this country act together in solidarity, in the interest of workers, not the interest of individuals, not the interest of people who want to be known in society, who want their name to be in society. It is in the interest of the workers that this movement is established.
“CTUSAB must not appear to be an organ of government, nor enter into any unholy alliance with any political party for the joint management of the country’s affairs. Such relationships will compromise and ultimately stifle the independence of the trade union.”
Delivering the feature address at the congress’ mid-term delegates’ conference on Thursday at the Seventh-day Adventist Conference Centre in Brittons Hill, Dr Sobers said that the lack of youth in trade unions was due to their disenchantment with the movement, and urged a rethink to draw these individuals back into the fold.
He said: “They feel trade unions no longer fight in the interest of their total well-being. Not just wages and salaries and conditions, but you must think of them as spiritual beings, social beings, family life beings, all those dimensions of life, community. The trade union movement must pay attention. There exist feelings in this Barbados of waning success by unions in obtaining job security, with the attendant social protection and security benefits.”
Lamenting the state of the movement, Dr Sobers highlighted CTUSAB’s origins, born out of protests in the 1990s against the government’s acceptance of the International Monetary Fund’s structural adjustment programme, and its collaborative work with the government, business and civil society in negotiating a protocol to lessen the impact of these adjustments and its success in bringing a large number of unions and staff associations together.
“Today, it is clearly evident that change has happened since those days, and that CTUSAB no longer commands the confidence and standing it once did,” he said. “From all indications, the principles of solidarity and unity have been sacrificed on the altar of popularity and egotism. Therefore, if this address is to have any meaning, I must call on you, the leaders here, to embark on a process of revisioning and reimagining the organisation against the backdrop of its founding aims and objectives.”
The business consultant insisted that there should be shared educational training and other opportunities among the various unions, stating that sharing resources was critical in a small island where these agencies have limited means.
He continued: “Why should we continue with a May Day with one union whose message is the only message? There was a time when I belonged to the movement, when at least messages were given at May Day from all the unions. I don’t know that that happens any more… Why can’t you have a communiqué, that your members can come together and talk about some issue in this and decide that this is the union’s position on it?”
Dr Sobers also underscored the importance of social dialogue at a time when the workforce was more informed and knowledgeable, but the systems and management styles were outdated.
He said: “The Barbados workforce, especially within government, is increasingly comprised of knowledge workers – statisticians, analysts, economists, lawyers, accountants, management specialists – yet we continue to manage them with an outdated colonial, top-down command and control mindset and structures. In fact, we adopt the style of the former masters whom we condemned for their slave practices. We have moved the fields to the buildings. We have not changed anything.”
jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb
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