BWU backs BOSS – Moore

The General Secretary of the island’s largest trade union on Wednesday gave her support in the Senate for the Government’s bonds-for-earnings scheme – the Barbados Optional Savings Scheme Bill 2020- declaring it was not an act of trickery.

Senator Toni Moore today declared that BOSS is the Government’s best option in the face of the COVID-19 economic crisis.

She told the Upper House: “My organisation and me as a labour leader is happy that, even if the solution is not the perfect one, we have had the opportunity to influence the discussion in a direction that minimises injury.

“We are happy and satisfied that we have been able to address a broad range of interest. Had we as a true representative of the masses opted to remain outside of the discussions then we would most likely be discussing something that we can’t accept for anybody at any level. We were able to influence [the process]. The BOSS acronym also came from (the) labour (movement).

“The deliberations, the consultations helped us address the objectives we had at the start of the process and now public sector workers now have the opportunity to save.

“There is no trickery in this that your representation has been privy to. To the best of our collective capacity, we have done what we think provides the best concept for a person who is interested in seeing how they may share in the burden.”

She added: “In as crisis you need spending power. You need money to spend to keep the economy moving. If a person can barely make it is asked to save what they should be spending. I don’t think that sits well in terms of keeping the economy churning. It isn’t doing enough in terms of spending so that in turn the wheels in the economy can keep moving.”

One of two trade unionists in the Senate, the BWU leader said that workers now have the option to cash the bonds in or to keep their bonds if they believe they can save.  She said much progress was made since the initial proposal – thanks to labour.

She told the Upper Chamber: “Our arguments were that while savings were desirable it should not be forced to the detriment of an individual’s personal arrangements. These arguments were received.

“The iteration that went from Forced Savings to a Meeting Turn to a BOSS move, that movement conveys a principle that was put very strongly by labour. A person should not be asked to give from what they do not have the capacity to give.”

The senator said the entire labour movement is now satisfied with the BOSS proposal.

Senator Moore said: “I can speak for many in the labour movement who went through the discussions who are now satisfied that the proposal which is now before the Honourable Chamber is one that wasn’t an option from the start and anyone who tries to convey that is not doing the discussions any justice.

“It is a commitment to a methodology that individuals don’t have a choice over. Built into that methodology that is to achieve a certain accounting outcome is an element of option that recognises if that person who wants to save cannot save because of their financial position they should not feel disadvantaged.”