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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020
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Fisheries suffers ‘rift’ on non-Bahamian workers
‘TRAGIC AND IRONIC REALITY’ OVER EXPAT FISHERIES WORKERS * Major processors, wholesalers urge Bill halt
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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fisheries industry “rift” has been exposed over arguments that over 1,000 persons will be hurt, and up to $8m lost, if planned legal reforms stop foreign nationals working on Bahamian-owned boats. The Coalition For Responsible Fishing (CFRF), a group representing major fisheries wholesalers, processors and exporters, warned that proposed changes to fisheries and Immigration laws preventing foreigners working
* Fear over 1,000 impacted, $8m exports lost * At odds with fishermen on foreigners bar on locally-owned boats “in any capacity” would result in “the unemployment of hundreds of Bahamians” at a time when the country could least afford it. The group’s October 25, 2020, position paper, which was signed by the likes of Anthony McKinney, Paradise Fisheries’ principal, and Percy Roberts at
Geneva Brass Seafood, warned that more fisheries businesses will fail without “significant amounts of experienced skilled labour” that are presently not available in The Bahamas. Arguing that trained potters and divers, in particular, were in short supply, the Coalition warned that the ban on expatriate labour
but we have to keep the economy going.” Mr Ferguson warned trade unions not to try and seek blood from a stone, or squeeze a dry carcass, for if there were no employers there would be no jobs, and therefore no union members and no union dues. “You can’t ask for something if nothing is there,” he added. “It’s in our interests to forge a respectful relationship. It’s very essential that industrial harmony and industrial peace be enjoyed throughout until we work through this unfortunate time. “After that we don’t have to go back to the way we used to do it. At this kind of time it’s very important we find common ground between the union, employer and worker, and work diligently to get this country back to what it used to be. We want an economy that is going to benefit all citizens.” Peter Goudie, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) labour specialist, yesterday told Tribune Business that any form of industrial unrest would
A BAHAMIAN fisherman last night confirmed the long-standing “split” with the sector’s major wholesalers and processors over what he described as “a tragic and ironic reality”. Paul Maillis, the National Fisheries Association (NFA) director, told Tribune Business that planned changes to fisheries law that his organisation supports had highlighted a decadeslong rift with other parts of the industry concerning the use of expatriate labour (see other article on Page 1). The proposed Fisheries Bill is being opposed by the Coalition For Responsible Fishing (CFRF), a group whose members include the likes of Paradise Fisheries and Geneva Brass, on the basis that barring legitimate expatriate workers from crewing on 100 percent-owned Bahamian commercial fisheries vessels would retard the sector’s jobs, production and export earnings. The Coalition, advocating for the major wholesale and export houses, argued there was insufficient qualified labour to operate large New Providence-based fishing vessels without foreign workers who specialise in diving and potting in particular. Errol Davis, of Fish Farmers Ltd and a Coalition member, told Tribune Business: “We came together based on an urgent need to address misinformation in the industry; primarily to address the misinformation
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proposed under the Fisheries Bill 2020 was counter-productive and could result in the loss of millions of dollars of export-driven foreign currency earnings just when The Bahamas needed every cent it could get following COVID-19’s devastation. Estimating that the
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Union leader urges: Avoid labour unrest at all costs By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A TRADE union leader yesterday said he had informed his colleagues that industrial action in any form must be avoided until the Bahamian economy fully recovers from COVID-19. Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, told Tribune Business that he had informed its affiliate unions that “industrial harmony is essential” to helping ailing businesses rebound from the pandemic’s devastation and start hiring once again. Agreeing that workplace disruption, whether it be through strikes, sick-outs or go-slows was the last thing the ailing economy needed, Mr Ferguson said labour and the unions needed to foster a “partnership” approach with employers to ensure that any disputes that emerge - especially over the next two years - are resolved amicably. “With what is going on, I think all industrial unrest should be avoided on the basis that the employer and union decide if there’s a difference of opinion we sit down intelligently and discuss it,” he told this
newspaper. “It cannot be in anyone’s interests to do anything to disrupt the economy. “Certainly, from where I sit as president, I’ve said to all my colleagues that this is time for us to look at how we help the economy. That helps our members. If a hotel opens up, it means people go back to work. “Our job should be to help that. Yes, you’re going to have disputes, but it doesn’t have to be personal. It’s driven by the economy. We need to help the employer open up, run his business so that workers get a job,” Mr Ferguson continued. “If there’s a dispute it doesn’t mean they have to walk off the job, it doesn’t mean they have to have a strike. You discuss it with the employer and work it out. That has to be the process for us in returning the economy, and hopefully the employer does the same thing. We have to move away from a strike or industrial action. I’m for working as a team.” Conceding that The Bahamas’ post-Dorian and COVID-19 struggles call for a different approach to industrial relations, the TUC president added: “No one wants to destroy the country. No trade
GB HOTELIER: ‘WE NEED SOMETHING TO GO OUR WAY’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A MAJOR Grand Bahama hotelier yesterday said his property is losing between $200,000 to $300,000 per month, as he lamented: “We need something to go our way.” Magnus Alnebeck, Pelican Bay’s general manager, told Tribune Business that leisure tourism on the island was virtually “nonexistent” with just 400-500 hotel rooms available - and his property accounting for at least 40 percent of them. Disclosing that Pelican Bay’s occupancy levels have been running at between 20-40 percent per month since the COVID-19 pandemic started, apart from the periods including the most severe lockdowns, he said Grand Bahama’s leisure visitors “can be counted on a few hands” with both cruise tourism and the Grand Lucayan closed down. Suggesting that the island was unlikely to feel any benefits from the tourism industry’s re-opening ahead of the upcoming Christmas holidays, Mr Alnebeck said Grand Bahama was “a pretty desperate place at the moment” as he warned
it was “absolutely essential” for something to happen with the Grand Lucayan deal. This newspaper revealed earlier this week that the Government has hired consultants, believed to be the KPMG accounting firm, to review the merits of the ITM Group/Royal Caribbean purchase of that resort amid increasing doubts that the terms as they currently stand deliver significant enough economic benefits for the Bahamian people. Mr Alnebeck said that unless the acquisition started to move forward soon, the Government might have to explore other options for the resort, given the urgent need to make “something happen” for a Grand Bahama economy that has now been in distress for 16 years since the Royal Oasis closure. With Pelican Bay traditionally experiencing a drop-off in its core corporate customer base after Thanksgiving through to the middle of January, the resort chief said he was bracing for a quiet Christmas. “We are now at about 20 percent occupancy,” Mr Alnebeck told Tribune
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OBIE FERGUSON union leader I know wants to destroy the country. “The employers of the country must be prepared to treat with the unions as partners, not that the unions are in the business of trying to disrupt the employer. In times like this we need to work in a partnership relationship, and respectful partnership relationship. Taking industrial action and stuff, I’m not saying it won’t happen
By NEIL HARTNELL and YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporters