Whither Trade Unions In Barbados?

Submitted by BU’s most famous Anonymous family member

Recent developments across the globe and here home in Barbados have made it necessary for one to ask the question:

Has the central role of the trade unions in Barbados changed ? and; Who is really looking out for the basic rights of the workers?

News coming out of Britain and the United states have revealed a growing protectionist mode being adopted by the recently elected Barack Obama and Gordon Brown of the USA and Britain. In Britain the phrase British jobs for British workers has been uttered by British Prime Minister Brown first at his party convention, and then repeated again and again in public.

While in the USA President Obama is openly pushing a Buy American First slogan with his new stimulus plan. America’s money he says must be used to create American jobs. Interestingly both responses go against signed declarations by the respective countries; in the case of the U.K, – the EU Treaty of Freedom of Movement of Labour, and the WTO agreements on Globalisation and open markets of which the USA is a signatory. In both of these countries the workers have had the strong and public support of their trade unions and national strikes are now on the cards in Britain.

In Jamaica we see a similar step being taken by the union there – a strong challenge to government on the matter of immigrant labour,similarly in St Lucia with the government there taking the lead,and in Trinidad where their Construction group cried out against foreign companies getting contracts (namely the Chinese) and using foreign workers.

2009 TripAdvisor Travelers Choice Awards

The only honours representing the unbiased opinions of millions of real travelers, awarded by the world’s largest travel community.

How did we (Barbados) do?

Barbados could have appeared in any one of eleven categories.

Which ones did we?

Best Bargains

Top 100 World

#33 – Peach and Quiet

Top 10 Caribbean and Mexico

#3 Peach and Quiet

#10 Southern Surf Beach Apartments

Top 100 World Best Luxury

#18 Little Arches Hotel

Top 10 Best Luxury – Caribbean and Mexico

#4 Little Arches Hotel

Financial Meltdown, Scapegoating And Guyanese Immigrant Options

Submitted by Guyana Consul Norman Faria

There is much talk these days of the “Diaspora” and how they relate to their birthplace. These are Guyana and other CARICOM born people residing mainly in US, Canada and the UK…

There is some balance. Their diplomatic and consular missions highlight the  contributions of a sterling few to their newly adopted homelands and mention of integration.  Heads of government and Ministers regularly visit . But the message is always sent: ” Don’t forget to keep sending home the money. It helps the economy”.

There is a need  to go beyond the symbolic awards. How many of our people overseas really get involve in social work, community affairs and local and national politics  ? How “socially active”, or “civic minded” to use a more mainstream phrase, are we when we settle in the three main countries (and by extension other places like Barbados) ?

Should Our Merchants Be Tarred And Feathered?

We have to admit that we came up empty when we tried to do a follow-up on a previous Foreign Eggs Are Coming! which we posted leading up to the Christmas period. From all the feedback received there was no significant downward movement in the price of eggs. It is regrettable that our local media has not done a follow-up story by asking what, why, who, when and where. Maybe we are being harsh on them, they seem to have their hands full trying to defend why journalists in Barbados should not pay professional fees.

In all fairness the local media has kept the issue of high food cost in Barbados as a centre issue. On a related note the Trinidad media has been reporting this week that there is overwhelming evidence the price to the consumer of imported food is starting to trend downwards. The main reason given is the depressed oil price which has impacted freight cost.

The information coming out of Trinidad requires that some explanation from Barbados merchants is required. The immediate would be to question the sourcing of suppliers used by Barbados merchants  vis-à-vis those in Trinidad.

Iain Deane Responds To Accusations In The Blogosphere

Dear Barbados Underground Family,

I wrote to Barbados Underground some while ago stating that I would not make any comments about matters pertaining to law suits either in the Barbados or Canadian courts (or in any other country, for that matter) to which I am a party. I continue to stand by that.

I reside in the United Kingdom and am currently visiting Barbados . The primary reason for my visit is because I am responding to a request to make myself available to the Honourable High Court (Civil) to be examined and cross-examined as a witness in a trial to be heard later this week.

I was made aware this morning of the latest defamatory statements and misidentification made about me by the Keltruth Blog that purports to be owned and operated by certain of my cousins, namely Kathy Davis née Knox and her siblings.

Without indulging in the type of total and lamentable lack of respect for the Honourable Ontario Superior Court of Justice exhibited by whoever runs and operates Keltruth (which may or may not be my cousins – I have only seen unidentifiable and legally unverifiable claims that Keltruth is indeed owned and operated by my cousins, but I am not convinced of this at all) I wish to state categorically that I am NOT the blogger on Barbados Underground that Keltruth mis-identifies me as being and who writes about matters pertaining to Kingsland Estates Limited.

St. Peter’s Bay Barbados, What Private Beachfront!?!

With the UK now officially in recession, with the economy shrinking at its fastest rate for nearly 30 years we’re sorry to hear you’ve lost most of your fortune. Through no fault of your own. Well, perhaps through some fault of your own. Like profligate spending instead of saving for a sunny day in Barbados. But no use crying over spilt…etc.

Gone are the university fees, the 2010 BMW, the promise from your bank manager – who no longer works there – to finance a luxury apartment on a tropical private beach (see above) and if that wasn’t bad enough you don’t know if, and when, you’ll be able to retire before 68 with enough funds to live off even by scraping through on sardines and the other bare necessities.

Well, we can’t help you. Sorry about that. But this might cheer you up. It’s common practice in advertisements for luxury gated beachfront property in Barbados to make potential buyers think they are getting a private beach. It’s never actually spelled-out. Fudge words are used to make you think the beach is private.

Here’s a classic example from St. Peter’s Bay which in their own words…

Bush Remedies

With the rise of the modern society in the last 30 years or so; we have seen the emergence of traditional medicine and designer drugs. Some say we are the more healthy because of it, others say our dependence on traditional medicines has given root to a multiplicity of chronic maladies. This is not an attempt to dispute the wonders of modern medicine. The pharmaceutical companies and the medical fraternity, responsible or not are guaranteed financial security for at least the next generation given the current state of affairs.

Of relevance is the ageless practice of the Chinese to use complementary medicines as a legitimate first option to treat ailments. A check of the life expectancy of a Chinese (74 years) places them at no disadvantage when compared to a Barbadian (73 years). Some may argue that the size of the Chinese population and the vast areas of under-development in China makes the Chinese life expectancy number unrealistic.

How many of us remember scouring the gullies with an elder to pick bush to top-up the medicine shelf. There was the popular Bush Tea made from various bushes/vines reputed to conquer colds to the prevalent ‘bad feels’. The basil had a dual purpose i.e. to keep the mosquitoes away. What about the ‘bannin’ of the head with sea-grape leaves soaked in coconut leaves to bring down the cold?  Ginger tea was and still is a popular beverage to ‘break air’ lodged in the body.

The TRUTH Must Be Told: The Sages In Trojan Horses Are Lecturing Us But The Common PEOPLE Will Have Their Say

Submitted by Yardbroom

One sage – B.C Pires Nation Newspaper 1-19-2009 – stated in his harangue…”I haven’t been here (Barbados) long enough”…

I say, you have been here too long.  He opines…”we (Barbadians) debate so we don’t have to do”…

We are sorry to disappoint you but we will not change despite your ill-conceived beneficence.  That a national paper in Barbados could encourage by license, a writer to publish the nonsense I will quote is unbelievable…and he is paid I presume.

B.C Pires states…”Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana indicate what, given enough time, guns and ammo will happen everywhere in the Caribbean – including Barbados”… As if to further the effect of a naked flame in a gasoline tank, he launches forth into:

…”you can only go on giving justifiably angry young men church for so long before they notice fire arms are more expressive”…

That a National Newspaper, yes a National paper could pay people to write such “tosh” in a free democratic country is inexcusable.  This writer – B.C Pires – is uncomfortable with our church ethic, it disappoints him, but to juxtapose, “justifiable angry young men”, “fire arms” and “more expressive” in the same sentence is unforgivable.  Particularly when he previously stated…”with enough time guns and ammo what will happen everywhere in the Caribbean- including Barbados.”  The writer seems to have a wish list, quite peaceful Barbados does not cut it for him.  We are sorry to disappoint you Mr.Pires.

Arresting Moral Terpitude On The Rock

Submitted by The Scout

The price of progress has greatly eroded the Christian values that existed in old Barbados. Whether or not parents were Christians or just church-goers, they sent their children to Sunday School. When there was a funeral at the village church, the rum shop/s used to be closed in respect of the dead. Today the rum shop/s order additional drinks to serve their excess expected customers.As a school boy it was compulsory to attend school assembly and prayers at the start of school every morning. There used to be scripture taught in schools and a certified examination at G.C.E.

All this instilled some morals in even the worse children at school. In a progressive Barbados, we have removed a lot of the moral values that this society lived by and, as a people, we now seem to be wandering down an unknown path. Today Christianity is replaced by religious knowledge in schools and there are teachers who are pushing other religions down the throats of some of our brightest brains, hence destabilising the Christian values that once existed in this society.

LIME, Another Sour Twist

Submitted by R. T. Luke V. Browne

Previously, the LIME tree was known by a different name. Today, we recognise what was growing in our midst. It has been extracting the riches of the soil—through our human and financial resources, for example—and the harvested fruit is hidden from ordinary view, and use. Of course, the fruits have served two purposes – sweetened drink for the privileged and plant reproduction.

Here arises a problem. They who eat of the fruit have clearly consumed in excess, and are now consumed by excess. It even seems that they have ingested the seeds in large quantities, which usually has fatal consequences for the individual and company. Now poisoned, there can be no clear assessment of the business circumstances; inaccurate conclusions—that directly affect the lives of thousands across the region—have followed. As fruits spoil, the world lacks. All for greed and plunder.

Indeed, the tree has impoverished the soil, without replenishing it. Here is another twist to a sour Caribbean tale.

Substitute ‘LIME’ for ‘Sugar’

Eric Williams may have easily written on the future of the Caribbean, by making only minor changes to his work on history.

Through Williams, we learn that:

The history of the Caribbean is dominated by the history of sugar, which is inseparable from the history of slavery; which was inseparable, until recently, from the systematic degradation of workers in the region.

If sugar(cane) is no longer associated with the degradation of workers, through LIME slavery and such degradation seem to be alive – in a blink workers lose status, reputation and self-esteem. LIME—either as previously or currently constituted—has been with us for almost as long as sugar. The Caribbean had the most profitable of Cable and Wireless operations, and it led to a clash of colonial masters. The wounded ruler now transforms itself to, in their words, “regain what is rightfully ours.” Nothing has changed except ‘LIME’ for ‘sugar’, ‘sour’ for ‘sweet’.