Some factions within the country’s largest public sector trade union are being accused of sacrificing the collective strength of the national labour movement to advance their own selfish agendas.
General Secretary of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations (CTUSAB) Dennis DePeiza has warned that in addition to rising unemployment and political infiltration, trade union infighting would result in a further decline in membership as the country’s working masses lose faith in their representatives.
CTUSAB President Edwin O’Neal is however adamant that the “regrettable” developments are in no way indicative of a collapse, and instead signal an opportunity for improvement to the way they are represented.
Over the last few weeks, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) has been a hotbed of deep-seated division and in-fighting ahead of internal elections.
The public debacle has seen a failed attempt to create a Secretary General position for sitting president Akanni McDowall, before he was suspended in an impasse that has resulted in him and Acting General Secretary Wayne Waldron seeking legal representation.
In response to questions from Barbados TODAY, the head of the umbrella trade union body CTUSAB, of which the NUPW is a member, lamented that the saga does not augur well for the movement, in a climate where membership numbers are already dwindling due to the economic situation.
“Anytime you have anything that is polarized or has partisan elements in it, there will be divisions and that is not healthy for organizations that are supposed to be united or have a common sense of purpose,” said DePeiza.
“We have too much in-fighting in our unions and we have to be honest. What are they fighting for? Is it power? Is it prestige? What? I don’t know what individuals have in mind, but when we treat internal trade union elections as though they are political elections, where you have different camps and everybody is spending thousands of dollars promoting all types of paraphernalia, what are we saying?” pondered the CTUSAB leader.
DePeiza warned that as a result of the fighting, the trade union movement has found itself in a troubling state of flux. He called for a return to the foundational principles and “visionary” leadership that has been slipping in recent times.
“A lot of our leaders are not focused and I am not saying that every individual in the trade union movement is that way, but some of us are losing our focus, and if we do not get back on track and put the people at the centre and forget about the peripherals, we are going to have this problem. It is not the destruction of the union, but we are going back into a state of flux,” he stressed.
Weeks ago, veteran trade unionist Senator Caswell Franklyn predicted that the NUPW could well be at the brink of its demise.
CTUSAB president Edwin O’Neal, during Tuesday’s press conference, expressed hope for a quick and effective resolution to the “regrettable” situation and a return to meaningful contributions to trade unionism in Barbados.
However, he rejected the notion that the movement is in its dying days, arguing that this is not the first time unions have encountered such turbulence.
As evidence of the movement’s relevance, he touted its contributions during Government’s economic restructuring that resulted in the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme and the Barbados Optional Savings Scheme (BOSS) that were both relatively favourable to workers.
In fact, the CTUSAB urged Barbadians to remember that nearly all of the social initiatives like free school meals and free healthcare at polyclinics, were secured by the trade union movement.
“Whenever you get a grouping and a grouping as political as a trade union or a political party or a pressure group, there is bound to be some energetic outbursts. That does not signal the collapse. It is a challenge to the leaders as to how to manage and direct that energy into productivity or into a productive enterprise, but I have no fear whatsoever about the trade union,” O’Neal declared.
“The NUPW has problems today. I have no doubt that it will be resolved one way or the next and that we will be better off and more educated and better placed to continue the trade union movement,” he added. (KS)
