BWU’s Holiday Message: A time to reflect

Christmas equals togetherness, our theme for the holiday season and always – togetherness, solidarity and unity begets strength.

The Holiday Season is the time of the year where we look forward to more get-togethers with our families and loved ones.  For us at the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), it is also a time where we take stock of what has been happening in the labour market and plan for the year to come.  This year, we have had cause to reflect on the many issues that have been exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic and on the conversations and actions that we must now pursue.

Without a doubt, this year has been a struggle for all of us, but for some more than others. The BWU has been busy defending against, unprecedented and unwarranted attempts to cut salaries and terms & conditions of employment, as well as layoffs and redundancies.  Where changes were unavoidable and where many in non-unionised arrangements lacked protection, livelihoods have been impacted in one way or the next.

An untold amount of additional stress has been experienced, especially by workers in the Hotel & Tourism industry and linkage sectors of the economy, who endured lengthy periods of unemployment and uncertainty.  Even though our National Insurance System has been under significant pressure during this challenging time, we have had cause to reflect on the need to address the absence of social protection for many, especially those working in the informal sector.

We continue to rely on God’s blessings and direction as we navigate through this very tough season, and earnestly plot our roadmap for 2021.  The Executive Council of the BWU is facing up to the challenges, reevaluating and making some changes:

• To get out and see you more as part of a renewed customer engagement;
• To innovate and adapt to different modes to deliver on our mission; and
• To reaffirm the tenets of our forefathers to stand at the forefront of legislative and policy reform that would bring upliftment to the working man and woman and improve the future of work.

The BWU is in the right place to do so.

Perhaps there has never been a moment more important for workers to come together in solidarity.  The house of labour in Barbados and those who represent it must unite and use our power as strength, to carve a new footprint that would bring benefits to the whole.  We must not surrender our integrity to those whose aim is to spread misinformation and divide labour to the detriment of the progress and improvements which we are working toward and which we must achieve.  The BWU does not peddle in propaganda but in truths.  We will stand only with those who are ready for a new guard and who are ready to recommit to using our collective voice to significantly improve the lives of working people, their families and ultimately, this country.

2021 is shaping up to be a very busy year and may prove to be as difficult as 2020, especially during the first quarter, as globally we continue to battle to find ways to move past the worst effects of the COVID 19 virus.  The BWU remains committed and focused on tackling each challenge with courage and fervour.  The light on the horizon for the BWU is our 80^th Anniversary.  We have a proud history and legacy to celebrate and uphold.  I am confident that together we will march forward bolder and stronger into the weeks, months and years ahead.

On behalf of the Executive Council and staff of the BWU, I take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you, our members, for your continued support throughout one of the toughest years we have ever experienced.  A special salute goes out to the hidden army of workers, who stood up on the frontline to navigate us through some of the hardest days of this pandemic in Barbados.  We cannot say thank you enough.

To all Barbadians, may the blessings of the Season be upon you.  May it bring us all bright hope for the future and a better New Year.  God Bless!

The Barbados Workers’ Union