Union chalks up more members along with workplace wins

The Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) has claimed recent victories have led to a “rebirth” of the island’s oldest trade union, citing a boost in membership, particularly among young workers.

Cheyne Jones, the BWU’s communications and information manager made the disclosure as he joined General Secretary Toni Moore and other union officials on a tour of the National Botanical Gardens, this year’s site of the annual May Day celebrations on Wednesday.

The union has successfully negotiated back pay for unionised staff at the University of the West Indies and assisted KFC workers across the island in their fight for better working conditions, among other interventions which have spurred more young people to join the BWU, according to the BWU official and former journalist.

“What we are extremely pleased about is the age of a lot of the new members,” said Jones. “That shows a resurgence and a rebirth in the Barbados Workers’ Union. Since we streamlined the processes and we’ve had online payment . . . we are starting to see alot of people who may be a little worried [about their] manager seeing them sign up. Now [with] the only process, we are seeing a lot of people not having to worry about management, and it is alot of young people. To me that is a powerful statement to what is going in within the Barbados Workers’ Union.”

Moore said: “A lot of the momentum has come with increased membership, most definitely; we have been able to consolidate in a number of divisions and that’s where we’ve been seeing the uptick. We have a few new divisions that have come in as well during the last year, but much of the increase in membership for the Barbados Workers’ Union has been consolidation, and that is because it is deliberate focus of ours to let members understand it is not sufficient to be a member of the union, but we need divisions unionised because that is where our strength comes.”

The annual Labour Day celebration, dubbed  It’s About You Too, will begin at noon at the National Botanical Gardens.