Business Monday: Reduced democracy seen in credit unions, says Doyle

LEADING Credit Unionist, Oriel Doyle, believes that democracy in the movement is not what it used to be. And he told an Educational Session on Saturday that this occurrence is one of the reasons why the function was held.

Doyle, President of the Barbados Co-operative Business Association, told participants attending the function at the Baobab Tower that the co-operative movement, including credit unions, once held the strong view that they were not like the investor type businesses, where decisions are made by those investing their money.

He stated that in a co-operative, each member must be treated equally, provided with the same benefits, and have the same opportunities to assume leadership roles as anyone else in the organisation.

“Within recent times, we have seen the emergence of a number of factors that have seen the co-operative as we know it today devoid of maximum participation by its rank and file members,” Doyle stated.

The Credit unionist noted that there may be a fear among members that their views will not be heard, so they feel powerless when attending meetings.

He stated too that discrimination of all kinds might be evident within some institutions.