About the International Labour Organization

The International Labor Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency associated with the United Nations (UN) whose worldwide objectives are to improve labor conditions, promote productive employment and social progress, and raise living standards. The ILO was established in 1919 as an autonomous part of the League of Nations and brought into formal relationship with the UN in 1946.

The ILO is composed of 178 member nations and differs from other UN agencies because representatives of employers and workers, as well as government officials, take part in its work. Each member nation sends four delegates: two from the government, one employer, and one worker. The organization's principal organ, the International Labor Conference, meets annually in Geneva, Switzerland, to define and ratify international labor standards. The organization does this by means of Conventions, which are subject to voluntary ratification by member nations, and recommendations that provide nations with detailed guidelines for legislation.

Convention 87 - Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise

The ILO Convention 87, the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention was ratified by The Bahamas on the 14th of June, 2001. Upon the ratification of this Convention, like other ILO Conventions, government is responsible to ensure that its provisions are put into law.

Much of Convention 87 was already in our law at the time of ratification. Article 24 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas provides for "Protection of Freedom of Assembly and Association" which reads in part, "no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of peaceful assembly and association, that is to say, his right to assemble freely and associate with other persons and in particular to form or belong to political parties, or to form or belong to trade unions or other association for the protection of his interests."

From the employer perspective, the full implementation of Convention 87 is in effect. Through Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise, employers are able to form associations of like employers; these associations are able to join the Bahamas Employers Confederation which is recognized by the ILO as the voice of the employer in The Bahamas; and BECon has the right to affiliate with international organizations of employers, which it does through its membership in the Caribbean Employers Confederation and the International Organization of Employers.

From the union perspective, Convention 87 is not in full force. The Industrial Relations Act requires unions to limit their activity to certain industries, crafts or occupations. The removal of this limitation would allow "general unions", i.e. a general union would then have the ability to be recognized as the bargaining agent of any company. Conceivably, this would allow one union to represent all workers in all industries. This very powerful union could effectively stop commerce in the nation through the industrial action of a general strike that would result in devastating economic ruin to the country.

Convention 87 was ratified by The Bahamas with the expectation that the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill, one of the five bills comprising the "compendium of labour legislation", would be enacted and become law. This Bill, along with its companion, the Industrial Court and Trade Disputes Bill together would have replaced the Industrial Relations Act, did not limit unions to representing certain industries, crafts or occupations and would therefore have allowed general worker unions. However, to remove the fear of the consequences that could result from one all powerful union, this Bill contained regulations making union officials more responsible, (similar to the way the Companies Act makes officers and directors responsible for their companies), and narrowly defined Industrial Actions and the strict procedure of implementing Industrial Action.

Although the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill would have brought Convention 87 into full force from the union perspective, this Bill was vehemently attacked by the unions because of its other provisions, and they were successful in their lobbying efforts to have the Bill set aside. Therefore the Trade Union and Labour Relations Bill and the Industrial Court and Trade Disputes Bill were both shelved which puts us in the predicament we are in today of not being in full compliance with Convention 87 and not having comprehensive labour legislation.

It is important to note that a major concern of employers is that much of the "industrial action" that takes place in The Bahamas is illegal, wild cat strikes for instance. The union leaders are not a party to this, however after the incident when sitting across the table with the employer, the union leaders do call upon the employer not to take any disciplinary action or exercise their legal rights against those employees. When laws are broken without consequence, respect for the law declines. Our Constitution states that we recognize the Rule of Law, and Article 8 of Convention 87 states, "In exercising the rights provided for in this Convention workers and employers and their respective organisations, like other persons or organised collectivities, shall respect the law of the land." Observance of the law of the land by unions and their members is therefore an integral part of Convention 87.

As ardently as some union officials are pushing for full implementation of Convention 87, other union officials do not want to see full implementation. General unions will bring the capitalistic free market system to unions, creating competition between unions that has never existed before. Increasing "market share" will become possible and this will inevitably lead to shifts in the leadership structure of unions, with some union leaders finding themselves and their unions left out. In order to survive and grow, unions will have to be responsive to their members and provide quality service, and may even have to adjust the amount of dues charged to its members.

Full implementation of Convention 87 should not occur by simply amending the Industrial Relations Act to allow for general unions. It should instead be done by the replacement of the Industrial Relations Act with a new piece of legislation that not only provides for making union officials more responsible for their unions, narrowly defines Industrial Actions, and establishes a strict procedure to implement Industrial Action; but also brings our labour laws into the 21st century. Greater transparency is desperately needed in the recognition process, and with the ability of any union to represent the bargaining unit of any company a transparent process is required to determine which union has the majority support of a bargaining unit.

Instead of the Minister of Labour determining which union has the support of a bargaining unit and whether or not a company must recognize a particular union as the bargaining agent of its employees, these determinations should be made by the employees of the bargaining unit. Determinations such as these should demand a secret vote by members of the bargaining unit conducted by the Department of Labour with representatives from both the employer and the union(s) as observers. The employer and union representative(s) should both be present during the counting of the ballets which should take place immediately after the vote. In order for a vote to be carried it needs to be required that more than 50% of the bargaining unit votes in its favour. This will allow government, the employer and the union to know the desire of the employees of the bargaining unit. Recognition that is granted based on a majority vote of employees will be much more acceptable to employers than a letter from the Minister of Labour demanding that the employer recognize the union.

A similar procedure requiring more than 50% of the bargaining unit voting in favour should be required for unions to conduct an Industrial Action against a company, with a pre-defined cooling off period before Industrial Action can take place.

Status of ILO Meetings

Due to budgetary constraints the government of The Bahamas did not send a Bahamian delegation to the Sixteenth American Regional Meeting held in Brasilia, Brazil from the 2nd to the 5th of May, 2006. Pauline Petty instead attended the ILO/CIDA Regional Child Labour Project seminar/workshop held in Trinidad and Tobago on the 4th of May, 2006, with the theme, "Combating Child Labour in the Caribbean: Lessons Learnt, the Way Forward".

The government of The Bahamas has budgeted for and will send a Bahamian delegation to the 95th Session of the International Labour Conference being held in Geneva, Switzerland from the 31st of May through the 16th of June. Each year the member States of the ILO meet at this Conference, which is often called "an international parliament of labour".

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