John Pinder, president of Bahamas Public Services Union, is warning the government that the country could experience another Black Tuesday if union issues are not resolved.
He described Wednesday’s demonstration in Rawson Square as ‘very civil’ but noted that if affiliates of the National Congress of Trade Unions are forced to demonstrate downtown again, the scene would not be pretty.
“We have been continually trying to get the government to address the issues but everybody is pussyfooting around and playing games. I think they believe we are not serious,” he said.
“I sent a message to the Prime Minister to say if he thinks we’re joking, let us go back to Bay Street. If we have to go back to Bay Street we’re going to take Bay Street.
“There won’t be any parliament, there won’t be any traffic – it will be another Black Tuesday if we have to go back to Bay Street and that’s the God’s honest truth.”
Some of BSPU’s concerns include what it described as ‘salary anomalies’ of workers at the Airport Authority; a 24-hour on-call system at the Social Services Department without an increase in gas mileage; a refusal to offer salary increases to employees at the Gaming Board, similar to that of the Broadcasting Corporation and inadequate transportation for garbage collectors.
Mr Pinder said what was disturbing to him was that following the demonstration, some BPSU members have been threatened with pay cuts and other disciplinary action.
“Our members have been told that they will be disciplined for their peaceful two-hour demonstration. It now causes us to play hardball. They can’t expect for us to be lenient in any way,” he stressed.
“So I will make sure that the revenue base is in place that whoever has to get cut, the union will reimburse them. We are going after the revenue resources of our sister unions from throughout the world. We will increase our strike fund and we’re working on that as I speak now.”
Robert Farquharson, general secretary of the National Congress of Trade Unions, and president of The Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union said he was hoping that the government would now take a serious look at the unions’ concerns.
“We are letting the government know that we are united. We are determined to continue to press on so that the outstanding issues are resolved and resolved in a timely manner,” he said.
“They are already taking some steps to resolve some of the issues. I think that they have gotten the message and they know what they have to do now to resolve the remaining issues.”
Two members of the Coalition for Democratic Reform – Fayne Thompson, parliamentary council member and deputy leader Charles Maynard – also weighed in on the demonstration on Love 97’s ‘Issues of the Day’ talk show.
Mr Maynard suggested that Fred Mitchell, Minister for the Public Service, and Vincent Peet, Minister of Labour, were both ineffective leaders since the numerous union disputes escalated to a point where a demonstration was needed. He said, “The same strategies that you used to get elected, you have to use to govern. Your power of persuasion, your ability to get people to listen.”
He added that the government was not justified in cutting the pay of the members who participated in the demonstration.
“Knowing the history of the Progressive Liberal Party, if I were a minister in the PLP government, I would never do that – knowing that’s how (through protests) the party was created.
“Instead, I would call the leaders of the union and have an emergency meeting and say: ‘You don’t have to demonstrate, I get the picture, let’s negotiate.’ That would have been a better course to take than to write a letter saying if you demonstrate, we will retaliate.”
Fayne Thompson added, “The PLP is in a threat mode. They’re saying if you are not with me, I will demean you and insult you into submission.”
By: MINDELL SMALL, The Nassau Guardian
