CTUSAB slams government over labour representation

The Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) has chastised the government for what it perceives as a deliberate attempt to undermine its status as the national trade union centre.

CTUSAB General Secretary Dennis DePeiza also expressed deep concern over the government’s continued exclusion of CTUSAB from key international labour discussions.

He said the government’s continued refusal to ensure its representation at the annual International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva — despite its recognition by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Public Services International, the global union federation for public service workers — was an insult.

“It is an insult that we constantly have to suffer the indignation of being relegated from our rightful position as the national trade union centre, simply because the government chooses to prioritise its own perception of what it deems the ‘most representative’ labour organisation,” DePeiza told journalists.

Since 2012, following the withdrawal of the Barbados Workers’ Union from CTUSAB, the national trade union centre has faced ongoing marginalisation, DePeiza explained.

Despite this, CTUSAB is urging the government to ensure equal representation in Barbados’ international labour engagements. It has proposed a system where both CTUSAB and BWU alternate their participation as either the workers’ delegate or the workers’ advisor at the ILC. But DePeiza said the government has not supported this approach.

“The government has the right to choose its delegation, but it must also recognise CTUSAB’s rightful place. If there is a preference for the BWU, then alternate the positions annually,” DePeiza suggested. “Even this, the government refuses to accept, and that tells us there’s more in the mortar than in the pestle.”

He argued that the government’s rigid stance is effectively silencing CTUSAB and diminishing Barbados’ ability to present a well-rounded representation of workers’ interests in global discussions on labour rights, employment policy, and social protection.

He called on the government to reconsider its position in the interests of fairness, good governance, and the integrity of the industrial relations system.

DePeiza said: “The public of Barbados, and particularly the workers, need to stand up and tell the government that this is not fair, not right, and not just. A government that prides itself on integrity must do better.

“We are not here throwing stones at any individual government. But the fact remains that the current administration has sought to elevate an individual trade union over a national centre. That is the distasteful part of it, and it must not be allowed to continue.” (SZB)