Choices limited for business survival, says BCCI president

One of the island’s leading representative organisations is discouraging pay cuts for workers as members struggle to survive the existing COVID-19 lockdown.

But while President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Trisha Tannis contends that salary and wages cuts should not be at the top of the agenda, the BCCI is also cautioning that the alternative options are “very limited” right now.

“This [pay cuts] is not anything that we want to encourage, but certainly it is one of a string of options…very limited options that are on the table. So if that is the only option that employers can afford so that they can preserve jobs, then it is something we would have to consider very carefully, if that’s the reaction…then they will not have a choice but to proceed,” Tannis told Barbados TODAY this afternoon.

The Chamber head identified other options as temporary layoffs and short week employment. The latter, she conceded, is a form of salary “cut”.

“Shortened-hours is also a variation to a pay cut, however you dress it up. It is still a devaluation of someone’s take home pay. There is no easy answer. It depends on what capitalization the business can afford.  You might find persons making more long-term decisions about their structures right now,” Tannis declared.

The business sector leader added: “I wouldn’t say we would support it, but with caution and a great deal of gravity, knowing the consequences of doing that…but if that is the only option a business house has to select their costs in an environment where they are not earning anything, then it is a better option than completely severing ties.”                                                                                                                            Recently, managing director of the A1 Supermarkets chain Andrew Bynoe suggested that salaries may have to be slashed by as much as 50 per cent. Similar suggestions have been made by other business leaders in the region.

In response, the Chamber of Commerce president indicated that some businesses may be able to justify such a reduction in their payroll.

“Well considering that right now there are businesses that have zero revenue and they don’t know how long they would have zero revenue for, because we can’t see past that May 4 horizon [end of the curfew]. So the longer we take to get to May 4 without knowing what is happening after May 4, those are the kinds of discussions our businesses would have to put on the table.” Tannis told Barbados TODAY.

She complained that companies are trying to manage the current difficult economic situation with little information on which to base a forecast.

She said that while a 50 per cent pay reduction may seem harsh, it is even harsher for a business that has no revenue to be able to pay 50 per cent of its staff costs.

“Think of the impact of the sustainability of that business. And if they do that, they are not going to be able to do that for too long. These are not easy considerations at all,” Tannis stressed.

The BCCI head also believes that if the Barbados Government supported pay cuts for workers as a means of businesses addressing the fallout from the COVID-19 lockdown, then Cabinet members should also follow suit.

Tannis was responding to a question on whether the local Cabinet should take a leaf out of the book of the St Lucia Cabinet which two days ago agreed to a 75 per cent reduction in salary.

“I would like to think that these are several considerations that the Government must have at the forefront of their contemplation. It is very difficult to think that the rest of the economy would be going through serious traumas as far as unemployment numbers, pay scales, taking cuts and losing revenue and that the public sector is somewhat untouched by the reality of what’s happening,” she stated.

“So I don’t have any firm information, I would hasten to say, but I would like to think that these are the things that have not escaped the contemplation of the Government,” the business sector head added.

Tannis is meanwhile strongly urging Government to give the country early notice of its next step on reviewing the present curfew that ends on May 3.

“I would think they would have to review it a lot sooner than May 3 because certainly I cannot think they would come to the country on May 3 and make an announcement. So I would like to think they would give the country a lot more notice than that, in terms of either a confirmation of a restart or whatever they have to communicate,” she suggested.

The Chamber leader argued that the logistics of trying to open up a closed business does not happen overnight.

“As much warning or notice would be greatly appreciated,” she added.

Earlier this week, unions representing public and private sector workers appeared unanimously opposed to pay cuts as a response to the current pandemic. They are also adamant that retrenchment should be a last resort.

The general secretaries of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), Unity Workers Union (UWU) and the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) contend that even the slightest salary adjustments would crush some low wage frontline workers and warned that alterations to contracts of employment should only occur after extensive negotiations.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb