workers voice volume 6
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7/31/2019 Workers Voice Volume 6
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Pg. 2
Pg. 3
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V O L U M E 6 P A G E 2
The Airport, Airline and Allied Workers Union (AAAWU) held its election of offi-cers on July 15, 2012. Ms. Nelerene Harding was returned as president and is
committed to repairing and restoring the damage resulting from years of internalstrife and court battles.
Her goals for this term in office include the following:
The completion of the Industrial Agreements for Bahamasair Holdings Limitedand Nassau Flight Services.
To secure affordable dependent insurance coverage.
To better serve the members by addressing the deficiencies in their wages
and working conditions.
To maintain the relationships with the affiliates of the NCTUB
In addition to Ms. Harding, the executive team includes:
Mr. Robert Pickstock Vice President
Ms. Vernell Albury Secretary GeneralMs. Esther Clarke TreasurerMs. Patricia Rahming TrusteeMs. Janet Rolle Trustee
Ms. Melanie Rolle Trustee
Ms. Cora Bowe Branch ChairmanMr. Christopher Moss Branch Secretary
AAAWU
Labour Day
Parade 2012
PresidentNelerene Harding
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V O L U M E 6 P A G E 3
The members of Bahamas Com-munication and Public OfficersUnion (BCPOU) returned Mr.Bernard Evans as President fol-lowing elections held 17th July,2012. It was however notedthat voter turnout was very lowand membership over the yearshas declined. This Following
downsizing at the BroadcastCorporation of the Bahamas(BCB) and the Bahamas Tele-communications Corporation(BTC). Mr. Evans stated that hewas confident of a successfuloutcome. The executive teamincludes:
Bernard Evans President
Edley Swain Vice President
Dino Rolle General Secretary
Sherry Benjamin Assistant Secretary General
Ulric Mortimer Treasurer
Dayvette Bain Assistant Treasurer
Sharzad Pickstock Trustee
Hilbert Collie Trustee
Martin Clarke Trustee
Clint Watson Area Vice President - ZNS - Nassau
Brando F. Stewart Area Vice President ZNS - Freeport
Garvin Simmons Area Vive President Exuma - South East Bahamas
Javotte Cooper Area Vice President - Freeport
Tina Cooper Area Vice President - Andros
Dorothea S. Bethel Area Vice President - Eleuthera
Terah Swain Area Vice President - Abac0
Photos
Kyle Smith/
TNG
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V O L U M E 6 P A G E 4
Thursday July 5, 2012, the Executive officers of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union(BEWU) paid a courtesy call on the Hon. D. Shane Gibson, Minister of Labour and Na-tional Insurance. Matters discussed included:
40 hours work week New pay scales The privatization of the Bahamas Electrical Corporation (BEC) A fulltime union officer Direction of BEC Operations at BEC Exuma Terminated Employees
The Union was well received by the Minister and Director of Labour Mr. HarcourtBrown, and the discussion was very fruitful.
Information and photo sub-
mitted by Mr. Stephano
Greene, President BEWU
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V O L U M E 6 P A G E 5
A war of words is beingwaged in the Bahamas aboutgambling but, this is not anew argument. In the 60s asimilar war was being wagedover casino gambling. Thestory is an intriguing onewith the wealthy and power-
ful seeking to influence thepolitical system and theChurch mounting a vigorousargument against gambling.Today, the dynamics are simi-lar, but this time the issue willbe put to a referendum forthe Bahamian people to de-cide.
To better understand the his-
tory of gambling in the Baha-mas, and to gain some per-spective, I encourage you toread the excerpts from theFaith That Moved The Moun-tain. Compare WallaceGroves and his cohorts withtodays politicians, or theChristian Council of yester-year with the Christian Coun-cil today.
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V O L U M E 6 P A G E 6
In 1937 it was illegal under the Pe-
nal Code to operate a lottery or tokeep a gaming house on howeversmall a scale. In spite of this illegal-ity, Mr. Louis Wasey and the Baha-mian Club operated small casinos inCat Cay and in Nassau. In order tolegalize these two operations, Sandsdrafted the now famous amend-ment to Section 257 (10) of the Pe-nal Code that authorized the Gover-
nor-in-Council to issue licences tothose two casinos and any otherpersons they thought fit andproper.
On November 14, 1945, the Hon-ourable Stafford Lofthouse Sands, atthe age of thirty-two, accepted ap-pointments to be on the Governor'sExecutive Council and to be Leaderof Government Business in theHouse of Assembly. Three months
after these appointments, he applied for a complete monopoly on casino gambling onbehalf of a syndicate of which he and C. Trevor Kelly were members. Upon the Gover-nor's Council's rejection of his application, Sands resigned from the Governor's Execu-tive Council and as Leader of the House.
On February 28, 1959, Sands again applied for another casino licence - this time on be-half of the Earls of Dudley and Sefton and Viscount Camrose. His application was againrefused.
Harping on the same string, on March 20, 1963, Sands applied to the Government onbehalf of his client, the Bahamas Amusements Limited, to operate casinos in hotels inGrand Bahama. This licence was granted on April 1, 1963 and was to remain in forcefor a period of ten years. From the continued refusals of Sands' applications made be-fore 1963, one may conclude that the general attitude of the Bahamas Government upto that point was to discourage gambling. How then did Stafford Sands succeed inobtaining this licence for the Grand Bahama Amusements Limited?
Cover photograph for Life Magazine
which was scheduled for publication
but was withdrawn upon the request
of local politicians.
Continued on
next pg.
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V O L U M E 6 P A G E 7
The answer could be found in one of the coolest, shrewdest and most calculating ofSands' clients: Wallace Groves. He offered a variety of advantages to the people's
elected representatives in exchange for information. Thus within a few days after April1, 1963, three of the six unofficial members of the Governor's Executive Council andtwo of the United Bahamian Party's members of the House of Assembly entered intoagreements with Grand Bahama Development Corporation, the company which fi-nanced the casino operation. The agreement provided for the regular payment ofmonies to the members for "consultant services." For his representation of the gam-bling interest, Stafford L. Sands, the elected representative for the City of Nassau, re-ceived a fee in excess of one half a million dollars.
To complete the picture, a fifth member of the Executive Council, the HonourableEtienne Dupuch, Q.C., and Senior Partner in the Law Firm of Messrs. Dupuch and Turn-quest, received, as early as 1962, a sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000:00) from theGrand Bahama Port Authority, the company in which Wallace Groves played the domi-nant role during its promotion of gambling in The Bahamas.
Hon. Eugene A.P. Dupuch
received $10,000
Sir Stafford Sands
over half million.
Premier R.T. Symonette consul-
tancy
Continued from pg. 6
Exerpt from Faith that Moved the Mountain by Sir Randol Fawkes Special thanks to the Fawkes familyContinue reading on www.sirrandolfawkes.com
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Marion Stuart was a member of The Bahamas Federation of Labour in the1950s and 60s and gave considerable support to Sir Randol Fawkes duringthe Sedition Trial in 1959 and wholeheartedly participated in all of the ac-tivities pertaining to the trade union movement. A tall, slim woman whohad tremendous zeal and passion, she was given free reign by Sir Randolto speak at the meetings held at Windsor Park. As one approached WindsorPark, her voice could be heard booming over the microphone. She had tre-mendous courage; made full use of the Bahamian vernacular and dialectand had no fear of openly excoriating and castigating the powers that be.
"Marry" as she was affectionately called by the Fawkes family will never beforgotten and will be remembered for her unswerving loyalty and dedica-tion to the cause.
Marion Stuart Infor mation andphoto submitted by
Ms. Rosalie Fawkes.
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V O L U M E 6 P A G E 9
THE EMPLOYMENT ACT 2001KEY POINTS
Sick and Vacation Leave
Employees are now entitled to one-week sick leave during a calendar (1) year withpay.
You are entitled to one-week vacation with pay, after six (6) months of continuous
employment.
After one year of continuous employment, you are entitled to two (2) weeks vacationwith pay.
After seven (7) years or more of continuous employment, you are entitled to three(3) weeks vacation with pay.
Your vacation pay should be paid to you at least one (1) day before you start yourvacation.
Should your employment be terminated before ninety days (3 months), of continu-ous work you are not entitled to any benefit from your employer.
It's our business to keep you informed.
Bahamas Department of LabourPublication.
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ILO Turin Centre
http://www.itcilo.org/en
International Trade Union Confederationhttp://www.ituc-csi.org/rio-20.html
the ILO Workers' Relations Bureauhttp://www.ilo.org/actrav/lang--en/index.htm
Decent Work Country Programme, The Bahamas
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/program/dwcp/download/bahamas.pdf
ILO Caribbean
http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Regionsandcountries/LatinAmericaandCaribbean/lang--en/index.htm
Trade Union History, Bahamas
www.nctu-bahamas.orgwww.sirrandolfawkes.com
http://www.itcilo.org/enhttp://www.ituc-csi.org/rio-20.htmlhttp://www.ilo.org/actrav/lang--en/index.htmhttp://www.ilo.org/actrav/lang--en/index.htmhttp://www.ituc-csi.org/rio-20.htmlhttp://www.itcilo.org/en -
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P A G E 1 1V O L U M E 6
Dear Friends,
We are very happy to have completed another addition of the newsletter for
the National Congress of Trade Unions Bahamas and we would like to thank
each and everyone one of you who took the time to make a contribution.
The name of the newsletter is The Workers Voice which was a name that SirRandol Fawkes gave to the Bahamas Federation of Labor's newspaper in
1959. This current newsletter gives to you, the worker, a voicea means to
communicate with your fellow brothers and sisters in the union. Additionally,
through the Workers Voice, you now have the opportunity of profiling yourunion and the work that you are doing.
It is our aim to introduce to you all of the affiliate unions attached to the
NCTU. In each edition, we also will bring you content that is historical in na-
ture. History informs us of the struggles that our forbears underwent and the
debt of appreciation that we owe them for the sacrifices made. The newsletter
will also enable us to document the history that is being made to day so that
future generations will be inspired by our efforts .
Finally would you like to be apart of this communications venture? Do you
have a story to tell, an opinion to share? Do you have English, photography,graphic arts design skills? If your answer is Yes then we would appreciate
hearing from you.
With thanks
Sheleta Collie
Chairman of the Public Relations Committee
National Congress of Trade Unions of The BahamasPh: 242-356-7459 Fax: 3242-56-7457E-mail: ncongress@hotmail.com Website: nctu-bahamas.org
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