Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BRIDGETOWN2228
2006-12-20 20:03:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bridgetown
Cable title:  

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

Tags:  ELAB ECON PGOV PREL PINR BB XL 
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VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHWN #2228/01 3542003
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 202003Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3942
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1587
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J5 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEHCV/USDAO CARACAS VE PRIORITY
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).

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