Industrial Unrest at Bacardi & Company Limited

The Bacardi group is truly transnational in scope with operations in The Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Originally founded in 1862 by Don Facundo Bacardi in Cuba, Bacardi has grown to be the world's largest privately held family owed spirits business, selling the world's number one international premium spirit, Bacardi rums. Over twenty million cases of Bacardi rums are sold annually in 170 countries world wide.

The Bacardi's are no strangers to adversity when it comes to the control of their business. On the 14th of October, 1960, after 98 years of existence in Cuba, the Cuban assets of the Bacardi company were illegally confiscated by Fidel Castro's totalitarian regime. The Bacardi family fled Cuba as exiles, however the communist government of Cuba was unable to extinguish their entrepreneurial spirit, therefore they dedicated themselves and persevered in the reconstruction of the Bacardi company. In order to maintain the supply of Bacardi rums to the global market, and to provide facilities for expansion, five new production facilities were built during the 1960s, one of them being placed in The Bahamas.

Today in The Bahamas, Bacardi & Company Limited is not faced with government confiscation of their assets, instead the Bahamas Brewery Distillers Workers Union is trying to wrest control of their business. There are actually two root causes leading to the industrial unrest at Bacardi, with the second issue supplying the grounds used by the union to call for the strike action that is now in its fourth week.

First Issue - The union is demanding as part of an industrial agreement terms and benefits that would substantially increase the cost of labour at Bacardi over the life of the agreement, without any corresponding increases in productivity. In these days of increased global competition even union officials are quoted in the media as saying that the days of automatic pay increases are over, going further to say that increases in wages must come about through increases in productivity. Apparently, at least in the minds of some union leaders, there are exceptions to this axiom, Bacardi & Company Limited being an example.

Second Issue - Due to the high cost of production in the Bahamas, 20% of its bottling volume was lost in 2002 to another Bacardi plant in Europe. In order to reduce the inventory of finished product to a level commensurate with its current level of sales, production was substantially reduced for a short period of time which resulted in the company being overstaffed; therefore several workers were laid off. The company anticipated that the layoffs would last about two months, after which production would be increased and the laid off employees would be called back to work. The union demanded that the laid off workers be immediately reinstated, and upon the company's refusal to do so, strike action was taken.

The demand by the union that Bacardi employ individuals in excess of those needed to effectively and efficiently run their company shows a complete lack of business acumen. No company can pay increased costs with no return and remain competitive. To do so puts at risk the solvency of the company and puts in jeopardy the job of every person who works for the company.

The Bahamas Employers Confederation supports its member; Bacardi & Company Limited, in the struggle to negotiate a fair agreement. The chief negotiator for the Bahamas Brewery Distillers Workers Union, Mr. Huedley Moss, has publicly called on government to seriously consider what is happening at Bacardi. As part of its consideration, BECon urges government to reflect on the following points:

• The Bahamas Brewery Distillers Workers Union has not had any elected officials in office for over five years. Is this union a legal entity or should it be struck off the Register of Unions?

• Bacardi & Company Limited in good faith asked the members of the union to choose a negotiator to act on their behalf since there were no union officials with whom they could deal with, and accepted Huedley Moss as their choice. In the two years since Huedley Moss has rejected all offers made by the company, and instead has demanded and is still demanding excessive provisions that the company cannot live with. In light of the disorganization of the union, which means there was never any written appointment signed by a union officer naming Huedley Moss as negotiator, should the company continue to treat Mr. Moss as a negotiator for its employees?

• Can a union, or any other party for that matter, force a company to employ excess individuals or force a company to accept terms and conditions of employment, other than those required by law, that directly affect costs, hence competitiveness?

• It is understood that the majority of the striking employees now want to return to work and accept the company's latest proposal of the 2nd of May, 2003. In a situation like this, shouldn't the employees be able to demand from their negotiator a conclusion of the agreement and shouldn't the employees be able to write the company directly advising them of their wish to return to work?

Bacardi & Company Limited has been a good corporate citizen of The Bahamas since 1965, enriching the socio-economic fabric of our nation. Bacardi operated in Cuba for 98 years before control of the company was taken away. BECon would hate to see 60 years lopped off this total and control taken away after only 38 years in The Bahamas.

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