Accusing management of being anti-union, Bahamas Industrial Manufacturing and Allied Workers Union (BIMAAWU) President Wilfred Seymour said the union is not currently willing to negotiate with Morton officials or even consider its present counter-proposal for a contract.
According to the union president, agreeing to the counter-proposal would result in economic and social hardship for the roughly 86 members of the BIMAAWU.
“The members of the union, the hardworking men and women at Morton Salt, take this document as an insult,” Mr. Seymour said.
“After producing in 2005 some 1.2 million tons of salt in harvestingﾅ and having received no increases at all in the year 2005 this is what they present to the hardworking people of the BIMAAWU.”
Addressing the press during a news conference held at the House of Labour Friday, Mr. Seymour said the union submitted its proposal for a new contract and requested managementﾒs counter-proposal from back in September 2005.
Noting that the union did not receive that counter-proposal until September 7, 2006 he expressed complete dissatisfaction with its terms.
“I find this document to be nothing else but a draft when it comes to union busting,” he said.
“This is not a counter-proposal… After exercising such restraint for over a year or two years we still find it very, very hard and difficult to deal with top level management at Morton Salt.”
The union president warned that if management does not submit a more favourable counter-proposal before contract talks begin on October 2 the BIMAAWU would be prepared to take industrial action, including possibly a strike.
Further critiquing the counter-proposal, Mr. Seymour explained that one of its provisions stipulates that in order for employees to qualify for a Christmas bonus they would have to process close to two million tons of salt.
He described that term as an attempt to avoid having to pay the bonus.
“Never in the history of Morton Salt did we ever harvest the amount of 1.8 million tons of salt,” he said.
“They are asking for 1.8 million tons of salt to be harvested and 1.8 million tons shipped. They (also) cut down on the number of production hours tremendously so that you wouldnﾒt meet the goal of even 1.3 million which they had (set) up last year. It will take the system another 20 years to produce 1.8 million tons of salt.”
In an interview with the Bahama Journal, however, Vice President and Executive Manager of Morton Salt Glen Bannister said the union, not management, has been primarily responsible for the delays that have plagued the process so far.
“When you have a proposal and a counter-proposal the next thing to do is to sit down and to negotiate,” he said.
“Weﾒve been trying to get the union to sit down and negotiate from last year September and they have found excuses after excuses not to sit down and negotiate on behalf of the employees that they are supposed to be representing.”
Mr. Bannister faulted the union for threatening to take the drastic measure of industrial action without the parties holding even the first round of talks. He also criticised what he described as attempts by union officials to negotiate in the press.
“We donﾒt agree with the things that they have in their proposal either,” he said.
“They donﾒt agree with some of the things that we have in our counter-proposal, but thatﾒs expected. So the two parties need to sit down and negotiate. Thatﾒs what the negotiation process is for ﾖ to work out these differences and come to an arrangement that everybody can live with.”
Also speaking at the news conference Friday, Trade Union Congress President Obie Ferguson took another view, insisting along with Mr. Seymour that the present counter-proposal should not even be negotiated.
“A union cannot negotiate an illegal document,” he said.
“The document itself is illegal. The document is derogating from the unionﾒs right to represent all workers. (The union is entitled to represent all workers) not only those who are union members because the law didnﾒt say that. The law says that all workers who are part of the bargaining unit can be represented. Now (management is saying) you can only represent those who are part of the union.”
According to union officials, approximately 86 of the companyﾒs 94 line staff employees who comprise the bargaining unit are members of the BIMAAWU.
By: Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
