‘Bizzy’ Williams: Advance the date for Social Partnership meeting
Reports are that a date has been set for a meeting of the Social Partnership in August, but a call has been made for the date to be moved up urgently, given the industrial action being led by four main trade unions who are calling for relief from Government’s austerity measures and calls from the private sector for more dialogue on the matter.
Chairman and Founder of Williams Industries Inc., Ralph “Bizzy” Williams, made the call as he slowed his pace in yesterday’s joint trade union-private sector march, for an interview with The Barbados Advocate.
“Of course (the date should be moved up). I would like the meeting this week. Why would we need to leave it until August? If you are waiting until then and the industrial action continues, then you could as well forget about Crop Over. You need the meeting this week. That is what we need,” he commented, though adding that it is up to the Government to decide what to do.
“We just want to make it clear how we feel. That’s all,” he said.
He meanwhile outlined his reasons for joining the march and for closing the majority of his businesses, to allow his private sector workers to attend.
“I decided to come here, because I don’t want Barbados to be shut down by industrial action. That is the reason I am here,” he commented.
“We have Crop Over coming up and I want to find a way, through dialogue, to bring the parties together and even if you have to give a little bit to make people satisfied that they have actually achieved something (fine), but let’s do it by dialogue,” he maintained.
“If we even bring in an independent arbitrator who is non-partisan to work between the parties and the Government, to try to reach some sort of settlement and providing of course the unions agree to call off the industrial action while discussions are going on, so that we can get through the Crop Over and after that, if there is no settlement and everyone is still dissatisfied, then we can start talking about industrial action. It is not good for the country and at this stage when our economy is so vulnerable. We cannot afford this foolishness,” he stressed.
“My only reason for being here is to try to show the unions that we care about them too and that we don’t want them to shut down the island. Let’s talk! I wish Prime Minister (Freundel Stuart) would just put aside everything else and meet with the people and the Minister of Finance (Christopher Sinckler) too and try to talk to the people ‘man to man’, instead of talking down to them,” Williams concluded. (RSM)