After almost two years of negotiations, officials of the Bahamas Financial Services Union and FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) Ltd. have signed a new industrial contract.
The agreement, the first to be signed between FirstCaribbean Bank and its employees, specifies the terms of employment, redundancy, redeployment of staff, management’s expectations of staff and staff expectations of management, union president Theresa Mortimer said at the contract signing at the Ministry of Labour on Friday.
Since the bank’s formation last year – the result of the merger of Barclay’s Bank PLC and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce – many employees at the institution have been concerned that they could soon be towing the unemployment line.
Those concerns escalated into a demonstration in front of the House of Assembly last month.
That protest thrust many of their concerns into the spotlight and sped up negotiations for a contract between the union and FirstCaribbean.
Union executives called the demonstration after FirstCaribbean executives informed them that the bank’s credit card centre will be moved to Barbados – creating some redundancies.
The demonstration prompted FirstCaribbean to issue an apology to the union for leaving it out of redundancy talks and bank executives announced that the decision to relocate the credit card centre was temporarily on hold.
Officials of the union said Friday that there was still no conclusion to that dispute, but they were pleased that they were at least able to sign the three-year agreement.
Despite other concerns, Mrs. Mortimer said she was encouraged by the partnership that has been created with FirstCaribbean Bank.
“Research has shown that once employees are happy in their workplace they function better, produce more and cause the business to grow,” she said. “Our goal in the BFSU is to have a win-win situation with FirstCaribbean Bank Bahamas Ltd.”
FirstCaribbean Director Terry Hilts, who signed on behalf of the bank, pointed out that the contract was the result of a tremendous amount of work and negotiations. He also highlighted the need to look after the needs of all the parties involved.
“The purpose of this agreement as set out is to regulate the conditions of employment, ensure the productivity of employees, help achieve the highest level of performance, provide quality service to our customers and deal with any grievances,” Mr. Hilts said.
He added that the concerns of the company’s shareholders must not be overlooked.
While he said that he was pleased with the terms of the contract, Mr. Hilts added that future staff terminations are a possibility.
“I wish I could sit here and say that there won’t be any redundancies, but given the world that we live in there certainly will be,” he said.
He added that the bank will do “all within its power” to ensure that employees are not terminated, but redeployed where possible.
Minister of Labour and Immigration Vincent Peet commended FirstCaribbean and union officials for being “focused, prepared to move with the times and creating a harmonious environment at the bank.”
Minister Peet said that harmonious relations between workers and employers provide benefits for the entire country by safeguarding the economy against industrial unrest and helping to create a content workforce.
“One thing that I would really like to emphasise is that as we sign these industrial agreements, it’s important that productivity becomes the watchword for all employees,” he said.
The Bahamas is viewed as having the most expensive labour force in the region, Minister Peet said. He pointed out that the only way to offset that perception is to become the most productive workforce.
By doing so, he said, employees would genuinely earn what they are paid.
By Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
