Tribute to Torquil V. Arnett

Photo taken at BECon's Annual General Meeting on the 28th October 2005.

It is with a deep sense of loss and sadness that the Officers, Directors and members of the Bahamas Employers Confederation mourn the passing of Torquil Vernal Arnett. Mr. Arnett, born on the 18th of March 1924, was 82 years old when he passed away at his home in Nassau on Saturday, the 5th of August 2006.

Mr. Arnett, or "T.V." as he was known to his friends and colleagues, was a staunch supporter of the Bahamas Employers Confederation. Not only was he a Past President of BECon, he served as its Executive Director from 1973 to 1979 and again from 1988 to 2006, for a total of approximately twenty-five years.

T.V. started his working career in 1942 as a Teacher for the Bahamas Government Board of Education in Nassau and the Family Islands for a couple of years, then become an Accounts Clerk for a year or so at The Bahamas Government Post Office Savings Bank in Nassau.

In 1946 he began working for the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation where he stayed until 1973. During the 27 years he spent with Batelco he diligently applied himself, as he did in all his endeavors. He started as a Trainee Technician, and then became a Supervisor in the Service and Installation division. He was able to branch out when he was assigned to Great Britain for a practical and theoretical applications program in the British General Post Office and Communications Industry.

When Mr. Arnett returned to The Bahamas he was given the special assignment of working with consultants to Batelco in evaluating and developing training programs for technical and supervisory personnel. This put him into the field of Human Resources and Training, which was the work he loved and was born to do. He became an Instructor, Lecturer and Administrative Assistant and was involved in several special projects. He eventually worked his way up to Assistant General Manager, Personnel and Industrial Relations, Batelco. He was assigned for about a year to the Ministry of Transport to assist in telecommunication matters handled by the Minister of Transport after which he left Batelco to become the Executive Director of BECon in 1973.

Mr. Arnett was already well known by the Bahamas Employers Confederation at that time since he was Batelco's employer representative to BECon. In 1979 he gave up the post of Executive Director of BECon to join Bacardi & Company Limited as their Personnel Manager, and again was an employer representative to BECon, this time on behalf of Bacardi & Co. Ltd. In 1980 he became Bacardi's Assistant Vice President in charge of Personnel and Industrial Relations, a position he held until his retirement in December of 1987 at the age of 63 years.

In 1988 Mr. Arnett again took on the mantle of Executive Director of the Bahamas Employers Confederation. On the advice of his doctor, in December of 2005, Mr. Arnett took medical leave and stopped coming to BECon's office. Even though his doctor instructed him not to work, he continued to do keep his fingers on the pulse of industrial relations in The Bahamas, doing BECon work from home, and did not officially retire as Executive Director of BECon until June of this year.

A few months before he began medical leave, and while on medical leave prior to his retirement, T.V. was ably assisted by his son Terrance Arnett who filled the role of Acting Executive Director of BECon on several occasions.

Mr. T.V. Arnett always had a strong sense of social responsibility and was a true Bahamian Patriot. He dedicated himself to making The Bahamas a better place for all Bahamians. It may be surprising to some to know that prior to joining management at Batelco he was a Past President of the Bahamas Public Services Union. He was also a Past President of the Government High School Old Scholars Association; the San Salvador Elevating Association; and, the Bahamas Association of Manpower Training & Development.

T.V. Arnett also served as Chairman of BECon (Bahamas & Caribbean) Training Ltd.; he was a Joint Advisory Committee Panelist with the Arbitration Tribunal, Ministry of Employment and Immigration; he was a member of the Aid to Discharged Prisoners Committee, Ministry of National Security; he was a member of the National Advisory Committee on Industrial and Technical Education & Training, Ministry of Education; and he served as a Director of Civil Society - Bahamas. T.V. was also involved in various other government and private sector committees and groups, as well as a Deacon / Administrator of Friendship Baptist Church, Laird Street, New Providence. His favourite recreational activities were reading and fishing.

In the four decades that Mr. Arnett was involved with the Bahamas Employers Confederation he faithfully represented Bahamian employers at the national, regional and international levels. He was very well respected by his colleagues in The Bahamas, as well as those in the Caribbean Employers Confederation, the International Organization of Employers, and the International Labour Organization.

In his resignation letter of the 12th of June 2006, T.V. wrote, "I am proud to have served the Confederation for so many years and did so to the best of my ability. As part of BECon and in my office of Executive Director I continually strived to work with the Directors and members of BECon, and our Social Partners, with the utmost respect and dignity in order to reflect positively on the Confederation."

Mr. Arnett did indeed reflect positively on the Bahamas Employers Confederation. He became a Bahamian employer icon, earning the respect and admiration of his friends, colleagues and Social Partners. Paradoxically, BECon is better known regionally and internationally than at home, in large part to T.V. Arnett who, with hard work, dedication, and personal self-sacrifice, represented BECon on the world stage for many years.

Luesette S. Howell, Senior Specialist for Employers' Activities, International Labour Organization (ILO) Subregional Office for the Caribbean, Port of Spain, Trinidad, W.I. is a true friend of BECon. She has visited The Bahamas on numerous occasions and has worked closely with T.V. both at home and abroad. In the email to her colleagues and Bahamas Employers Confederation regarding the passing of Mr. T.V. Arnett she stated, "He [T.V. Arnett] had been a staunch supporter of the ILO, IOE, and the employer family and ably represented the Bahamas Employers' Confederation in national, regional, and international areas. BECon was T.V.'s life as he spent a countless number of years at the helm as Executive Director. You will also recall that he was a friend and mentor to practically everyone he encountered."

Brent Wilton, Deputy Secretary General, International Organisation Of Employers (IOE), Geneva, Switzerland, who also visited The Bahamas and worked with T.V. both at home and abroad, had this so say, "Personally, I had the opportunity to work closely to him [T.V. Arnett] at several international, regional and national activities, where I witnessed his kindness, his strength and his charisma as an employers' representative. These are only some of the numerous qualities we will remember, along with his sense of humour, which was, of course ever present."

Mrs. Howell's email and Mr. Wilton's letter are posted on BECon's website, along with correspondences from Ana-Teresa Romero, Ph. D., Director, ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean; Jean-Francois Retournard, Director, Bureau for Employers' Activities, ILO International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland; and, Linda Besson, Executive Secretary/Treasurer, Caribbean Employers' Confederation, Port of Spain, Trinidad, W.I. See the T.V. Arnett Tribute Page.

Mr. T.V. Arnett is survived by his wife, Elaine Arnett; his daughter from a previous marriage, Velma Burrows; his step-son Harcourt Holbert; his two sons, Terrance Arnett and Tremain Arnett; his sister's son who he adopted, Humphrey Arnett; eight grandchildren, and numerous other relatives.

The funeral for T.V. Arnett will be held at 11:00AM on Saturday, the 19th of August 2006, at Zion Baptist Church, on the corner of East and Shirley Streets. Interment will immediate follow the funeral service at Woodlawn Gardens Cemetery.

Mr. Torquil Vernal Arnett was a quiet, mild-mannered, self-effacing gentleman, yet he had a tough moral fiber that manifested itself in his strong sense of duty and honour which required him to always do what he felt to be the right thing, regardless of the cost to him personally. May his Soul Rest in Peace.

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