More seek union representation

The Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) has cancelled its annual delegates’ conference this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions. This means that council members will serve for another year.

This move comes as General Secretary Senator Toni Moore reported that the labour union has seen an increase in the number of people seeking representation in recent months, as well as an increase in membership.

“What COVID-19 has done, it has caused a number of people to join the union that perhaps previously did not contemplate [doing so],” said Moore, who pointed out that about 15 per cent of the BWU’s membership came from the hotel industry.

She said many of them were joining the union for representation because of several labour issues including unilateral wage cuts and changes in employment contracts.

“We have also had some joining, not in the individual capacity, but coming to us as a group, as a cooperative or an association to discuss with us, different ways in which we can help them, and not in the traditional format because it is not an employer/employee relationship as such, but how can the union help them to advance health and safety conditions and get access to financing and other things,” she explained.

Moore was addressing a wide-ranging media conference on Thursday at the union’s Solidarity House headquarters.

She said after several consultations, the BWU took a decision to call off the delegates’ conference this year, which is usually held on the last Saturday in August.

The senior labour union representative explained that following the lockdown, the window for meeting a number of constitutional requirements for the conference was too short. Votes were also taken and virtual and other options were considered but they did not “honour the union’s constitution”.

“So a large majority of our workers from the divisions responded, supporting the council’s recommendation not to hold a conference this year, and that has the consequential impact of meaning that the executive council which was elected for a two-year term back in 2018 would be serving an extra year. So the conference in effect has been deferred until August 2021,” reported Moore.

Financial Controller of the BWU Destry Jones said the union, which will be celebrating 79 years in another month, has been seeking ways to change how it operated.

As such, she said among some measures to be ramped up were the improvement of digital communication with members to “smoothly and efficiently” get messages out and get input.

Jones also highlighted that the BWU was still in the process of engaging potential partners for the launch of a sustainable development programme.

She said: “The Barbados Workers’ Union is also looking at sustainable development and how we can assist the Government in trying to get to a 100 per cent renewable platform. This not only will help the union’s financial sustainability but it would also assist Barbados in terms of our efforts to go green.”

Jones said it would have an educational component to allow younger members to be “involved”.

Meanwhile, principal of the BWU Labour College Doreen Deane announced that the union would be “accelerating and expanding” the impact of workers’ education in Barbados and the region through training programmes on a new Moodle learning platform.

Pointing to a revamped website, Deane said the suite of online courses would allow individuals to “personalize their education experience” and make them more prepared to contribute to their place of work.

She also pointed out that workers will have access to programmes such as team building, communication skills, leadership, time management and conflict resolution, among others.

“We are really urging our members to take advantage of those opportunities at this time,” she said. (MM)