In light of the recent
turmoil taking place between Atlantis and its creditors that has left
the future employment of a large number of Bahamian workers, once again,
up in the air, the Democratic National Alliance calls for substantive
labour representation to be an integral part of any future Heads of
Agreement negotiations that takes place between the Government of the
Bahamas and foreign investors seeking to employ large numbers of Bahamian
workers.
“It is time for
any government seeking to represent the Bahamian people to see workers
of this country and the leaders elected to represent worker’s interest
as partners and not adversaries,” said Democratic National Alliance
Chairman Mark Humes.
“These government
officials who, one day a common man and the next day a so-called expert,
go about making decisions for our nation’s workers, tie them up to
these foreign entities in almost slave-like fashion, and then when their
deals go sour, they argue among themselves as to who was most incompetent,
while these same Union leaders are left fighting and fending for their
workers’ lives. This has to stop.”
“This Atlantis fiasco,
more so than ever, shows that there is a need for the Unions to be thoroughly
consulted and/or have representation in any negotiation that takes place
between foreign companies looking to employ Bahamian workers on a large
scale,” Mr. Humes says. “For too long workers in this country have
been caught in the middle and are left in the lurch because of the poor
decision making and self-seeking interests of career politicians with
little to no business acumen and little to no skills in the art of negotiation.”
The DNA Chairman says
that his Party believes that there should be better collaboration between
the Government and Unions to ensure that the best working conditions
exists for all working Bahamians.
“Moving forward,”
says Mr. Humes, who is the DNA’s candidate for the Fort Charlotte
and a former PR spokesman for the Union of Tertiary Educators of the
Bahamas (UTEB), “the DNA government has several initiatives that it
seeks to implement to ensure that workers of this nation are better
looked after and cared for.”
Mr. Humes said that,
among other things, the DNA will:
-
honor the tripartite Agreement
that previous governments have failed to honor
-
ensure that the Unions
are involved in the training and/or orientation of individuals coming
into the Public Service at the entry level and that ongoing training
exists for Union workers and personnel
-
facilitate the delivery
of training and upgrading for workers at the College of the Bahamas,
BTVI and the Labor College, especially if upgrading is a prerequisite
for promotion
-
Appoint promotions boards
with union representation to consider promotion for workers in their
bargaining units; and
-
invite leaders of Unions
to have observer status at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings
and other international meeting where the decisions and outcomes impact
on workers’ rights.
Mr. Humes said that
Bahamian workers at Atlantis cannot trust his word because he told them
that their jobs were safe based on a finalized agreement between Brookfield
and Atlantis, knowing full well that there was no finalized agreement.
“Now that the deal he said would have safeguarded the workers’ jobs
was pulled from under the workers’ feet,” Mr. Humes went on to say,
“Mr. Ingraham should be careful to make another round of promises,
as this embarrassing debacle should be a reminder to him that it is
important to be forthcoming with Bahamians in general.”
“He has no crystal
ball, and despite many thinking that he is a god, he does not know or
hold the future. He could not protect nor safeguard the jobs of workers
at Our Lucaya or the Royal Oasis; he could not protect nor safeguard
the jobs of workers with Hutchison Whampoa; nor workers at Batelco,
First Caribbean, or the Road Improvement Project. As it stands, Mr.
Ingraham cannot even guarantee that he will be prime minister past May
of 2012,” Mr. Humes said.
The Chairman said
that the one thing that the Ingraham administration he has been able
to guarantee workers is a 52 week job training program, and “even
that,” he says, “is for the few and select. Enough is enough.”
