Industrial Action or Anarchy?

At 4:00AM on Friday (8th of August) strike action was started against Morton Bahamas Limited in Inagua by the Bahamas Industrial Manufacturing and Allied Workers Union (BIMAWU). A Morton Bahamas guest house was firebombed early Sunday morning and eight brine pumps belonging to the company at a cost of over $20,000 each were destroyed over the weekend. Every effort needs to be made to identify and apprehend the criminal(s) and arsonist(s) who destroyed company property in order for them to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

At approximately 11:30AM on Monday (11th August) four Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) vehicles blocked Bay Street by parking abreast of each other at Rawson Square with hoods raised and emergency lights flashing while dozens more BTC vehicles did the same down the length of Bay Street which brought traffic to a standstill for about an hour. Shortly after 12:00 noon a large BTC truck blocked access to the bridge leading to Paradise Island for almost a half hour.

The claims that these vehicles were experiencing mechanical difficulties and in need of repairs were patently false, i.e. outright lies. What kind of message does this send to our society, especially our children? Were any of the drivers of these vehicles booked for obstructing traffic or booked for some other traffic offense? What type of disciplinary action (if any) will BTC take against those who participated in this demonstration by the unauthorized use of company vehicles?

This mass protest is being orchestrated by the Bahamas Communication & Public Officers Union (BCPOU) and the Bahamas Communications & Public Managerial Union (BCPMU) and appears to be far from over. It was reported in the media that at a meeting at the BCPOU hall shortly after the blockade was called off that the BCPOU President told members to go back to their workplace but don't do any work and the PCPMU President stated that they had shut down BTC and to await further instructions.

It appears that the union officers are avoiding the word "strike", however if we look at its definition in the Industrial Relations Act "strike means the cessation of work by a body of persons employed acting in combination, or a concerted refusal or a refusal under a common understanding of any number of persons employed to continue to work for an employer in consequence of a trade dispute, done as a means of compelling their employer or any person or body of persons employed, or aiding other employees in compelling their employer, or any person or body of persons employed, to accept or not to accept terms or conditions of or affecting employment". The cessation of work by a body of persons is by any other name still a strike.

The question arises as to whether the strike at Morton Bahamas Limited and the strike at BTC are legal strikes. Again we can look to our Industrial Relations Act for the answer. There are several steps that must take place in order for a strike to be legal. The first step is the filing of a Trade Dispute at the Department of Labour. Next is the elapse of certain time periods for the dispute to be resolved. If the dispute is not resolved after the specified time periods have elapsed a secret ballot of union members can be conducted under the supervision of the Department of Labour.

All of the steps outlined above were completed regarding the dispute with Morton Bahamas Limited and a successful strike vote was taken. However even at this point there are cases where it is illegal to take strike action. On Tuesday the 29th of July the Minister of Labour, the Hon. Dion Foulkes, referred the dispute between Morton Bahamas Limited and the BIMAWU to the Industrial Tribunal for the Tribunal to interpose the matter. Section 77 of the Industrial Relations Act prohibits a strike from taking place while proceedings related to that dispute are pending before the Industrial Tribunal. Therefore the strike at Morton Bahamas Limited is an illegal strike and the prescribed penalty is quite severe in that any union or member of the union's executive committee who contravenes this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

In the case of BTC the two unions did not even take a strike vote, therefore their strike is an illegal strike as well. From reports in the media we see that their strike is due to the fact that the union is not represented on the BTC privatization committee. The blocking of Bay Street and the bridge to Paradise Island trapped many of our citizens and visitors alike, in effect holding them and our economy hostage in their attempt to coerce government into granting them a seat on the privatization committee. Section 75 of the Industrial Relations Act makes a strike illegal if it is a strike designed or calculated to coerce the government either directly or by inflicting hardship upon the community.

The International Labour Organization's Convention 87, Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize legitimizes the forming of unions. Article 8 (1) of this Convention 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." The preamble to The Constitution of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas recognizes that the preservation of our freedom will be guaranteed by an abiding respect for the Rule of Law.

The Bahamas Employers Confederation strongly believes in the Rule of Law and by its Constitution promotes strict adherence to law. It is dangerous whenever anyone takes the law into their own hands, and is even more dangerous when those who take the law into their own hands do so with impunity.

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