BWU vs LIME

On the heels of the actions of the BSTU against the Alexandra Principal, (a situation that is yet to be settled, with dispatch), we are now faced with a bigger battle. The all powerful Barbados Workers Union, (BWU) versus the mighty LIME!

LIME workers are outraged that LIME would insult them by offering a mere 2 ½ % wage increase, after they helped the company to turn a healthy profit. An interim report from LIME indicates before tax profits of 45 million dollars in the first six months of the financial year with a projection of over $200 million in the next six months. Reportedly, LIME had offered its workers in Jamaica a 19-percent wage increase though it operates at a loss. The BWU therefore countered with a demand for a 17% wage increase which LIME answered with a 7% offer.

LIME on the other hand insists that , “We have a good offer on the table and we have not closed off the door to negotiating with the union. We cannot recklessly agree to extravagant wage increases that may have a devastating long-term effect on our business. Our offer is based on what the business can sustain given our operating costs, investment, the commitment to maintaining jobs and staying competitive,” says Head of Human Resources at LIME, Stephanie Catling-Birmingham. “Over the last three years, LIME has placed a huge emphasis on maintaining jobs, building the business and positioning it so that there is minimal impact on headcount. The international economic climate hasn’t bypassed us. Our business has also been impacted by rising utility costs and increases in the inputs needed to stay viable and competitive.”

So if I understand you correctly, LIME, profits of $245,000.000.00 in one year and you are finding it difficult to stay viable and competitive? Please.

Sir Roy Trotman and the hierarchy of the BWU must be secretly laughing at this opportunity to flex their muscles. It is companies like LIME that makes the unions maintain their relevance. All it takes for Trade Unions to become irrelevant in modern Free Market Capitalism is that working people are treated with respect economically, socially, morally and ethically. At the heart of Capitalism there exists a fundamental paradox. This being that the interests of employers and employees are not always congruent. Particular when it comes to wages and conditions of work. One must always remember that this paradox then becomes a paradox in itself in we cannot agree on the causes of this possible conflict. Either it is the greed of capital exploiting employees or it is purely abhorrent employees or employers, bad apples, who would cause trouble anywhere. Whichever, path we take in this debate is irrelevant in that businesses are there for profit and this will be achieved at any expense.

Capitalism does what capitalism does, it makes money. That is the foundation on which our standard of living stands.

Whatever one thinks of Trade Unions there is a one fundamental truism. Trade Unions actually work within the confines of capitalism in that their main and only reason for existence, "is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their working lives." Trade Unions are in fact integral to the survival of Capitalism because they add legitimacy to its actions. Capitalism, to this point in time, has allowed Trade Unions to exist, as they know the above definition is as true today as it was in 1920. Trade Unions are basically allowed to play at the margins of capitalist society. Trade Unions are the voice of working people they represent their grievances on pay and working conditions.

Using a war metaphor they have and will win some battles in their quest for justice for working people but they will never attack the centre of power and bring about the destruction of capitalism. The periodic ebb and flow of open conflict between sections of capital and Trade Unions allows the outside observer to see "democracy" in action. Both sides deemed equally powerful, struggling to come to an acceptable negotiated order. This is the act that legitimises Capitalism.

At one time, I questioned the need for Trade Unions in a modern society like Barbados where laws have been enacted to guarantee workers rights, where a number of our National Heroes were recognised because of their work in the Trade Union movement.

Then I asked myself, “What will legitimate Capitalism’s existence in a world without Trade Unions?”

The “Personnel” department of old has now become the Human Resources (HR) department of today and the belief in a flimsy, thrown-together HR argument that the interests of both employers and employees are the same unfortunately will not last 200 years as the ideals of Trade Unionism has. Nor will HR legitimate Capitalism. The mob not fettered by the restrictions of Trade Unionism will go straight to the source of their perceived grievances and truly bring about the demise of Capitalism.

Therefore, we the public will sit back and be treated to the heavyweights punching it out in a display as fake as a WWF wrestling match all in an attempt to convince the working man that he is justified in paying his dues to a union that can fight for the rights he is already guaranteed by law. The media too will play their part and give full coverage to the contest because in the end it is all about market share and the advertising dollar and strikes and threats of strikes attracts audiences. The Government will welcome this distraction from the fact that Standard and Poors has downgraded our economic outlook from “stable” to “negative” and that they are struggling to meet their financial commitments. The Chamber Of Commerce and the Barbados Employers Confederation among others,will all state their opinions in an effort to "represent" their respective memberships and who knows the Prime Minister may again be asked to ride in and save the day, (with dispatch), when the Minister of Labour fails! You can't make this stuff up! But..... maybe you can.

The following quote sums it up nicely.

“Capitalism needs to function like a game of tug-of-war. Two opposing sides need to continually struggle for dominance, but at no time can either side be permitted to walk away with the rope.” Pete Holiday

Barbados, sit back, relax and enjoy as we “Get ready to Rrrrrruuummble!”