A Brief History of BECon

The Bahamas Employers Confederation (BECon) was founded on the 9th of May, 1966 to undertake the functions of the organization most representative of employers in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas in order to represent employers of The Bahamas at national, regional and global levels.

BECon encourages adherence to policies which will promote stable, peaceful and harmonious relations between employers and employees; promotes strict adherence to law and contractual obligations in employer and employee relationships; encourages the establishment and maintenance of fair and reasonable employment practices; encourages amicable settlement of differences between employers and their employees; and, encourages consultation between members of the Confederation on matters of common interest in order to sustain a sound social and economic environment.

The Bahamas Employers Confederation plays a key role in the national, regional and international tripartite structure as he recognized voice of employers in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. As the employer representative we have a permanent seat on the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva that meets and works with our Social Partners of worker representatives and government representatives in a tripartite approach at the international level. On the regional level BECon works through the ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean in Trinidad and on the national level BECon is represented on the National Tripartite Committee of TRIFOR.

BECon maintains membership in the regional and international employer organizations being the Caribbean Employers' Confederation (CEC) based in Trinidad and the International Organisation of Employers based in Geneva.

In the over four decades since it was founded BECon has successfully worked with senior level executives from a broad spectrum of Bahamian enterprises. Through its training and development arm the Confederation can boast of having trained and developed many of today's community leaders.

In 2000 BECon joined the Coalition of Private Sector Organizations to review and dialog with government on the proposed labour legislations that were enacted in the beginning of 2002. The Confederation led the way in taking a proactive approach to ensure that employers fully understood the legislation and its implications in employment relationships through a series of interactive seminars facilitated by the country's preeminent labour attorney and then President of BECon, Mr. Reginald Lobosky.

Since then the Confederation has worked closely with the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and has played an ever-expanding collaborative role in national coalitions, including the Coalition for Educational Reform and the National Coalition for Health Care Reform. In addition, BECon has been a strong voice in bipartite initiatives, including the Bilateral Organization for National Development (BOND) where employer representatives and worker representatives come together to collaborate on common issues without being influenced by Government.