NASSAU, Bahamas — Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday reaffirmed his commitment to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with Trade Union Congress (TCU) and National Congress of Trade Unions Bahamas (NCTU) prior to the September 16 general election, according to TUC President Obie Ferguson, The Nassau Guardian reported on Wednesday, November 25, 2021.
“The unions, they are very optimistic with the ways that things are progressing after being assured by the prime minister that he committed to the MOU,” Ferguson said when called for comment.
He said the government and the unions are “progressively achieving the goals” that were agreed to in the document.
Ferguson said yesterday that things are progressing “very well”.
He promised to make the specifics public “in very short order”.
“We have already started accomplishing a lot of things that we agreed were essential for good governance and for a government that is worker-friendly,” Ferguson said.
The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) signed the MOU with the umbrella unions in August.
During a signing ceremony for the MOU, Davis said the document was “precatory” and signaled the unification of labor in The Bahamas.
“I say precatory understanding because the committee of the Progressive Liberal Party, headed by our chairperson and in consultation with myself … have looked at the workers’ agenda having found favor with the spirit and intent of those provisions and we are prepared to demonstrate our embrace of the spirit and intent by putting and appending our signature to this precatory document,” he said.
Under the MOU, the parties “agree that the PLP will be supported by the labor movement to become the next government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas”.
The parties have also agreed to “work with the PLP in government to amend the law and regulations where necessary and possible” to implement National Health Insurance; work toward the enactment of a livable wage; redefine wages to include all forms of income including tips and gratuities; ensure that foreign employers are unable to walk away from their financial obligations to workers in the case of the demise of their companies or entities; allow for at least 16 hours of rest between shifts for each employee; strengthen the role of conciliators and enable the rulings of the Industrial Tribunal to be enforced without delay. See complete article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/davis-reaffirms-commitment-to-workers/
