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Anthony Sobers, Chief Programme Manager at the Barbados Productivity Council (left) and Akanni McDowall, NUPW President.

Union making no apologies

“So my union has no apologies to make to those who have an axe to grind – political or otherwise – as long as we remain steadfast in the view that we must never shrink in our responsibility in standing up for the rights of the workers.”

Anthony Sobers, Chief Programme Manager at the Barbados Productivity Council made this statement while speaking at the official opening of the 74th Annual General Conference of the National Union Public Workers (NUPW), themed, “Pursuing Greater Success through Robust Representation and Commitment”, at the NUPW headquarters.

He pointed out, “Perhaps it might not be by chance that the theme for this year’s conference ‘Greater success through robust representation and commitment’ has been chosen at a time when the leadership of the Union has been the target of hostile criticism by some over its support of the democratic rights of its membership to engage in protest action, to draw attention to work-related situations which impact on their livelihood. To this end, let me seek once more to dispel the notion that the support given by the leadership to members, to obtain improvements in their working conditions is self–serving and politically partisan. For the record the NUPW is a democratic institution with membership drawn almost equally across the political divide, to whom the leadership is countable for their policies and actions. May I remind us all, that decisions to engage in protest action are taken by the National Council and the National Council alone!”

He continued, “It is no secret that this system is now more so under threat than ever, as globalisation of the market economy, privatisation and the weakening of the trade union power all pose serious challenges to those traditional industrial relations processes to which we have always subscribed. What then can public sector unions do to achieve success in the face of threats from newer forms of employee representation and participation? But it must not escape our notice even the process of collective bargaining, that important tool through which workers negotiate as a group to raise living standards and improve working conditions, is in itself under threat by authoritarian employers and short-sighted governments both in developed and developing countries. Must we lie down and play dead in responses to these internal and external factors which threaten our existence and by extension the wellbeing of our membership, or should we rise to the challenges in defence and promotion of the interest of our members? If the answer is ‘yes’, then I suggest we should shut shop and go home. If it is ‘no’ as I suspect, it can only be then in defence of the promotion and interest of the workers we represent.

“We have the right within the parameters of the International Labour Organisation Articles of Convention to initiate protest action as was the case of our response to the retrenchment of the BIDC, the National Social Responsibility Levy and the failed salary negotiations. May I add too that such as action includes the right to strike as enshrined in Article 3 of Convention 87.”

Sobers posited, “that for the Union to achieve greater success through robust representation and commitment, we have an obligation to our membership to stand firm and remain resolute in our convictions of what worker representation is all about.” (NB)

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