BARBADOS LABOR: A DEAL, A TEMPEST, AND A SURPRISE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 002228 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR AND DRL/IL USDOL FOR ILAB SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2016 TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV PREL PINR BB XL SUBJECT: BARBADOS LABOR: A DEAL, A TEMPEST, AND A SURPRISE REF: A. BRIDGETOWN 2202 ¶B. BRIDGETOWN 1836 Classified By: DCM Mary Ellen T. Gilroy for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) Summary: The week of December 10 proved to be an eventful one for Barbados' labor unions. On Tuesday, December 12, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) reached a new two-year wage agreement with the government that will give public employees a 10 percent salary increase for 2007-2008. That same agreement, while celebrated by workers for the double digit pay hike, was criticized by some as a pre-election gimmick of a government anxious to shore up its support with key voter groups. The agreement also generated an acrimonious public flap between the NUPW and the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados. The week closed with the surprise announcement of the resignation of Joseph Goddard as General Secretary of the NUPW, a position he has occupied for 20 years. End Summary. CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY FOR BARBADIAN WORKERS -------------- ¶2. (U) With a headline "New Year Bonus!" the press reported the successful conclusion on December 12 of the months-long negotiations between the NUPW and the government. The agreement will give Barbados' 28,000 plus public servants a raise of 10 percent over the period of 2007 to 2008. The double digit pay raise was the highest in a decade and is in addition to a 2-percent cost of living adjustment that public workers will receive as a result of the previous 2-year wage agreement. In the negotiations with the government, the NUPW successfully argued that the raise was more than justified in light of the country's rising cost of living. Barbados' inflation has been hovering around 7 percent during much of 2006, up from 6 percent in 2005. According to Dennis Clarke, the NUPW's Deputy General Secretary, the government sought to use "ability to pay" arguments to reduce the wage rate increase initially proposed by the NUPW, but the government could not dispute its own inflation statistics. ¶3. (C) The NUPW's position in the negotiations was helped significantly by the country's current political climate. The rising public discontent over cost of living issues has forced Prime Minister Arthur's government on the defensive, and political calculations probably played a role in the government's agreement to the higher than expected pay boost. Although the next general election will likely take place in the second half of 2007, if not later, Prime Minister Arthur may have viewed the public sector wage negotiations as a good opportunity to demonstrate that his government was responsive to the concerns of the people of Barbados. Certainly that was the opinion of Orlando "Gabby" Scott, the Senior Assistant General Secretary of the Barbados Workers Union (BWU),who described the NUPW deal in a meeting with PolOff as an early "Christmas present" in Barbados' pre-election season. ¶4. (C) The December 11 sweeping victory by St. Lucia's opposition (ref A) also probably helped in putting Prime Minister Arthur's government in a more generous frame of mind. Since the UWP victory in St. Lucia, various members of the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP) have very energetically set about explaining in the press why Barbados is nothing like St. Lucia and why Prime Minister Arthur would not go the way of St. Lucia's former Prime Minister Kenny Anthony. Translating those pronouncements into deeds with a sizable pay raise for Barbados' public servants seemed just the right touch. A TEMPEST IN A TEACUP? -------------- ¶5. (C) While Barbados' public servants were probably pleased with the NUPW negotiating team, the country's umbrella labor organization, the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations (CTUSAB) did not necessarily share the sentiment. According to the BWU's Scott, the NUPW strayed from CTUSAB's negotiating strategy and reached a settlement that did not correspond to CTUSAB's initial goal of a graduated pay raise that would have given a higher raise in percentage terms to lower paid employees. Sir Roy Trotman, the General Secretary of the BWU and the President of CTUSAB, harshly criticized the NUPW deal and maintained that his organization would continue negotiating for a graduated pay raise despite the NUPW defection. However, he is facing an uphill battle because wage agreements for Barbados' public servants are generally used as a guide for private sector wage increases and because it will be difficult for CTUSAB to argue that a 10-percent wage increase is not a good deal. ¶6. (C) The NUPW's Clarke and Derek Alleyne, member of the NUPW Secretariat, defended the agreement and their negotiating strategy in a December 19 meeting with PolOff. Clarke argued that the NUPW's members would never allow the NUPW leadership to cede its negotiating authority to CTUSAB. They expressed regret that Sir Roy decided to take their disagreement public, but both were certain that the disagreement was little more than a "tempest in a teapot" that would soon blow over. According to Clarke, tensions have emerged between CTUSAB and NUPW in the past three wage negotiations, but the unions always managed to patch up their relationship. The BWU's Scott described the present situation as "disharmony" within the labor movement, but he also did not seem overly troubled by it. The NUPW and the BWU are Barbados' two largest unions and form the backbone of the country's labor movement. Their close cooperation in the past has given Barbados' workers the strong voice that they continue to have today (ref B). The fact that the two unions generally do not compete for membership (one represents public servants, while the other has focused on organizing the private sector) has also helped keep the country's labor movement united. COMRADE NO MORE -------------- ¶7. (C) On December 15, Barbados' press reported the surprise resignation of the NUPW's General Secretary, Joseph Goddard. Goddard, who has been at the NUPW's helm for more than 20 years, resigned reportedly because of a minor management dispute with the NUPW national council. When Goddard recently met with PolOff, he spoke of his eventual retirement, but he did so in vague terms and in conjunction with a discussion of how much he still wanted to accomplish with the NUPW. Clarke and Alleyne confirmed that the decision was a surprise to everyone, including the NUPW, because Goddard resigned over a trivial issue which involved the termination of a temporary employee. According to Clarke, Goddard's departure represents a huge loss for the NUPW, but the union has been in the process of developing a succession plan in recent years, since Goddard was expected to retire in the next couple of years. According to Alleyne, the biggest challenge for the post-Goddard NUPW will be maintaining its high profile and excellent network of relations throughout the Caribbean, where Goddard was highly respected. COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) Last week's events demonstrate the influence labor continues to wield in Barbados. Viewed as a key constituency by both major political parties, the labor unions generally have the upper hand in negotiations with the government and employers (ref B). In pre-election times, their influence is usually magnified, as the negotiations over the public servants' wages showed. The current public spat between the NUPW and the CTUSAB is likely to be a temporary disagreement. The wage agreement negotiated by the NUPW is simply too good for the CTUSAB--and Sir Roy--to pass up. In fact, as Clarke said, "it's a done deal" and there is little that Sir Roy will be able to do at this stage. However, with the departure of the NUPW's Goddard, Sir Roy will be virtually unrivaled in terms of influence and profile in Barbados' labor movement, and he may yet seek to assert more control over the NUPW in his role as the CTUSAB President. OURISMAN