Large or small -- paid demonstrations prove nothing
tribune242 editorial
THERE are those -- mainly BTC unionists and opposition politicians-- who maintain that the majority of Bahamians are against the sale of BTC to Cable and Wireless.
In today's Tribune Dr Elwood Donaldson, a former cabinet minister in the Pindling government, said his group believes that the majority of Bahamians agree that selling BTC is a bad idea. He claimed that such a sale would reverberate through history as the "greatest blunder" of any Bahamian government.
Rodney Moncur, another political activist, has called for 10,000 demonstrators to converge on Bay Street to object to the sale of the telecommunications company on the day that it is debated in parliament. He has urged the PLP to show its sincerity by delivering 6,000 supporters to join the march. So far in all the calls for demonstrators, these activists have been hard pressed to attract a crowd -- their largest showing has been about 500 persons. Police have confirmed hearing some among that 500, who are "well known" to them, complain that if they were not paid there was going to be problems.
Now that it has been revealed that certain "political activists" have paid persons to go to Bay Street to make up the numbers for the crowd scene, it no longer matters whether 500 or 10,000 of them show up. This does not answer the question of whether the majority of Bahamians are for or against the BTC sale. All it shows is that a goodly number of bodies on Bay Street are there for their promised $85 to push, shove and shout, and give the police a hard time. Already we hear squabbling among what the police have referred to as the "criminally-minded" complaining about not receiving money promised for their hour on Bay Street on February 23. It is claimed that the going price was supposed to be $85, but some only collected $40 or $50 for their paid-for "demonstration."
From talking to persons, one-on-one, and studying the various independent polls, we are left with the impression that the majority of Bahamians -- even among unionists -- are looking forward to efficient telecommunications service and lower rates. As several have said: "We can't wait for the day!" They approve the sale. These persons have been paid nothing for their opinion.
However, once a demonstration ceases to be spontaneous, demonstrators' numbers don't count -- they no longer represent accurate opinions -- in fact they represent no opinion. Now that it is known they are paid, their numbers impress no one, and the organisers are made to look foolish. It is just one big, noisy, bogus show. We hope that the organisers will be prepared to take full responsibility for whatever damage might be caused by what is certain to turn into a mob scene.
Paying persons to produce mob-scenes is nothing new. We remember one day early on in the first Ingraham administration, one of our press men asked to see us. By now he was a man past middle age, a reformed gang member, who on occasion still hung out with "the boys." The night before, he told us, Sir Lynden had been to visit the "boys", a demonstration was being organised for Bay Street and for a price he wanted help from the "boys."
We don't recall what the incident was about -- there were so many incidents in those days -- but the so-called protest took place. Having been tipped off by our staff member, we had reporters mingle among the crowd for interviews.
The demonstrators were asked why they were there and what the demonstration was all about. Not one of them knew.
This is the response that we get from most demonstrators -- either they don't know what the issues are, or they are highly inebriated and don't care about the issues, or their information is so garbled that they make themselves look foolish. It makes one wonder about democracy and the one-man-one-vote theory.
We agree with Sir Winston Churchill when he said:
"No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
We recommend that Mr Moncur - and whatever other political activists there are of like mind -- forget about the 10,000-strong demonstration. Their crowds will prove nothing. Among them will be the undesirables who will harass shop keepers, as they did on February 23 when police had to be called in to order them out. Among them, said one policeman, were persons "well known to us." All of us should know what that expression means in police jargon.
These organisers are playing Russian roulette when they have among their group such persons, who instead of being out on the streets should be awaiting their day in court behind bars.
March 15, 2011
tribune242 editorial
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Showing posts with label unionists Bahamas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unionists Bahamas. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Kendal Isaacs: ...a reasonable, and responsible man
Why Sir Kendal refused to lead a demonstration
tribune242 editorial
SEVERAL years ago the late Sir Kendal Isaacs, then leader of the FNM, resisted the urging of his members to lead a peaceful protest outside the House of Assembly. We do not recall the occasion, but it was just after the conclusion of the Commission of Inquiry into drug smuggling when there was much political unrest in the country.
Sir Kendal, not only a reasonable, but a responsible man, said he would never take the responsibility of leading a demonstration. Why? Because, no one could control a crowd of people, especially if they should turn into a frenzied mob. He did not want to shoulder the inevitable tragic consequences of damage a violent mob could do. So there was no demonstration.
Speaking to party members at their Gambier headquarters last Tuesday, PLP Leader Perry Christie told supporters that come the 2012 election the PLP was committed to "play it straight." The party's campaign will be "aggressive" and "spirited", he promised, but would be conducted with "respect for, and adherence, to the elementary values of integrity, decency and dignity that are so sorely lacking in our country today."
Mr Christie said his party was going "to set the pace and set the tone because we are convinced that political morality, human decency and civility require us to do so."
Of course we saw none of this high-mindedness displayed when a crowd descended on Rawson Square on February 23, as police struggled to hold the barricades and shouts went up to "secure the House."
It was meant to be a peaceful union demonstration to save BTC from the clutches of C&W, but unionists were sidelined in a swirl of PLP supporters dressed in yellow "no turning back" shirts and a large contingent of PLP youth.
One policeman later commented that the first hand he saw touch a metal barricade to force it down was that of a man with a murder charge pending. Rumours were rife, resulting in National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest eventually confirming that, according to police reports, several violent criminals were also among the crowd protesting outside Parliament that day.
Mr Christie was quick to deny the rumours that many protesters were paid by the PLP to demonstrate. He said he certainly "paid no one." He also condemned Mr Turnquest for using "confidential police information" about criminal elements being a part of what was meant to be a "peaceful" demonstration, but turned out to be anything but peaceful. Of course, on such an occasion, Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell had to get in his own snide remark about paid demonstrators. "Aside from that being untrue, so what if they were paid?" he asked, referring to the practice during the PLP's early protests in the 1960s.
"To mobilise people takes resources: food, buses, and communication, emergency care to name a few of the possible expenses.
"So let's not get distracted by that fact."
We don't intend to get distracted by that fact, nor were the police to be distracted. Upset by another remark made in another context by Mr Mitchell about police reports, Police Staff Association president Dwight Smith stepped in to confirm on Friday that criminally-minded people were overheard to say that they had been paid to participate in the February 23 protest. And, he added, it was undeniable that there were people in the crowd with potential criminal motives. Mr Smith urged politicians to stop policising issues. Police already had a difficult crime problem to deal with, they had no need for politicians to add to their responsibilities.
The leader of the Opposition's office is located in the Bayparl building, as are several other offices, including the Ministry of Tourism. Reports from eyewitnesses and eavesdroppers tell the following tale:
After the court gave its ruling on the Elizabeth Estate election case, a group of persons lined the stairs leading the door of the Opposition's office. Among them was a "gentleman" who is extremely well known to the police. The persons on the stairs made it known to everyone within earshot that they were there for their "f money!" Someone opened the Opposition door and gave them some money. They were not satisfied. "Listen," said their spokesman, "we did what you asked us to do, now we want our money!" They were shouting the names of two MPs. They demanded to see them. Mr Christie was not one of them.
About a week ago Wednesday, after the recent demonstration, a group of boys were again outside the same office, asking for a certain PLP politician -- again not Mr Christie. This time they were demanding their money for the part they had played in the Bay Street demonstration.
Persons who were there described a scene that suggested that these persons needed money to reimburse them for more than Mr Mitchell's necessary bus ride to get to the site of the action.
March 14, 2011
tribune242 editorial
tribune242 editorial
SEVERAL years ago the late Sir Kendal Isaacs, then leader of the FNM, resisted the urging of his members to lead a peaceful protest outside the House of Assembly. We do not recall the occasion, but it was just after the conclusion of the Commission of Inquiry into drug smuggling when there was much political unrest in the country.
Sir Kendal, not only a reasonable, but a responsible man, said he would never take the responsibility of leading a demonstration. Why? Because, no one could control a crowd of people, especially if they should turn into a frenzied mob. He did not want to shoulder the inevitable tragic consequences of damage a violent mob could do. So there was no demonstration.
Speaking to party members at their Gambier headquarters last Tuesday, PLP Leader Perry Christie told supporters that come the 2012 election the PLP was committed to "play it straight." The party's campaign will be "aggressive" and "spirited", he promised, but would be conducted with "respect for, and adherence, to the elementary values of integrity, decency and dignity that are so sorely lacking in our country today."
Mr Christie said his party was going "to set the pace and set the tone because we are convinced that political morality, human decency and civility require us to do so."
Of course we saw none of this high-mindedness displayed when a crowd descended on Rawson Square on February 23, as police struggled to hold the barricades and shouts went up to "secure the House."
It was meant to be a peaceful union demonstration to save BTC from the clutches of C&W, but unionists were sidelined in a swirl of PLP supporters dressed in yellow "no turning back" shirts and a large contingent of PLP youth.
One policeman later commented that the first hand he saw touch a metal barricade to force it down was that of a man with a murder charge pending. Rumours were rife, resulting in National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest eventually confirming that, according to police reports, several violent criminals were also among the crowd protesting outside Parliament that day.
Mr Christie was quick to deny the rumours that many protesters were paid by the PLP to demonstrate. He said he certainly "paid no one." He also condemned Mr Turnquest for using "confidential police information" about criminal elements being a part of what was meant to be a "peaceful" demonstration, but turned out to be anything but peaceful. Of course, on such an occasion, Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell had to get in his own snide remark about paid demonstrators. "Aside from that being untrue, so what if they were paid?" he asked, referring to the practice during the PLP's early protests in the 1960s.
"To mobilise people takes resources: food, buses, and communication, emergency care to name a few of the possible expenses.
"So let's not get distracted by that fact."
We don't intend to get distracted by that fact, nor were the police to be distracted. Upset by another remark made in another context by Mr Mitchell about police reports, Police Staff Association president Dwight Smith stepped in to confirm on Friday that criminally-minded people were overheard to say that they had been paid to participate in the February 23 protest. And, he added, it was undeniable that there were people in the crowd with potential criminal motives. Mr Smith urged politicians to stop policising issues. Police already had a difficult crime problem to deal with, they had no need for politicians to add to their responsibilities.
The leader of the Opposition's office is located in the Bayparl building, as are several other offices, including the Ministry of Tourism. Reports from eyewitnesses and eavesdroppers tell the following tale:
After the court gave its ruling on the Elizabeth Estate election case, a group of persons lined the stairs leading the door of the Opposition's office. Among them was a "gentleman" who is extremely well known to the police. The persons on the stairs made it known to everyone within earshot that they were there for their "f money!" Someone opened the Opposition door and gave them some money. They were not satisfied. "Listen," said their spokesman, "we did what you asked us to do, now we want our money!" They were shouting the names of two MPs. They demanded to see them. Mr Christie was not one of them.
About a week ago Wednesday, after the recent demonstration, a group of boys were again outside the same office, asking for a certain PLP politician -- again not Mr Christie. This time they were demanding their money for the part they had played in the Bay Street demonstration.
Persons who were there described a scene that suggested that these persons needed money to reimburse them for more than Mr Mitchell's necessary bus ride to get to the site of the action.
March 14, 2011
tribune242 editorial
Monday, February 14, 2011
The majority of Bahamians approve the sale of Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (C&W)
Competition toughened Cable & Wireless
tribune242 editorial
YESTERDAY'S Gleaner reported that Cable & Wireless Jamaica, trading as LIME Jamaica, "continued its financial haemorrhaging in the December quarter, posting a $1.3 billion loss for the three-month period, nearly triple the $351.4 million of a year earlier."
Despite this its managers continue to look on the bright side, insisting that they are on the verge of turning the company around.
According to The Gleaner, Jamaica LIME has been in "retreat for the past decade since it lost its monopoly in Jamaica's telecommunications market."
"That's what happens to monopolies," said a Bahamian who is close to the situation. LIME Jamaica was doing the same foolishness as BTC because it felt secure in its monopoly, he said, then Digicel, an Irish company with dirt cheap rates, came in and ran it out of business.
It was this lesson from fierce competition that forced Cable & Wireless into the efficient company that it is today with Digicel waiting in the background to meet it head on in the Bahamas when the floodgates are open to competition.
One can now understand why the Bahamas government has offered and C&W - having learned from its Jamaican experience -- has accepted the three-year protection cover from monopolies for BTC's cellular service.
If it were not for this three-year period to build BTC up to meet competitors, the Bahamas' Telecommunications Company would crumble under the strain. C&W, on the other hand, although stumbling in Jamaica is prospering in Barbados and Trinidad.
But there is no room for hubris. There is much to be done to get BTC in a position to meet the competition, and for three years the BTC staff, who are interested in their company, will have an opportunity to prove that they are not among those who deserve to be made redundant.
In an interview with the Jamaican Observer last year, Digicel CEO Colm Delves, said that Digicel looked at the Bahamas, but was not interested in just having a stake in BTC, and so it decided "to pass on that."
"What was being offered there was a stake in the existing operator," said Mr Delves. "We think that when liberalization takes place there, then that will be the appropriate time to enter that market."
So in three years time Digicel and others might be the wolves at the door. Cable & Wireless will have to have BTC ready to meet the challenge and regardless of what Mr Evans, Mr Carroll and their unionists claim, they are babes in the woods, ignorant of the hungry sharks waiting in the world of competition to devour them and BTC.
Judging from the various polls, street talk and radio talk shows, the majority of Bahamians approve the sale of BTC to C&W.
They want better service, more choice, cheaper cell phone rates, access to mobile TV and the ability to phone the Family Islands as a part of the Bahamas, not as foreign islands with overseas charges.
Bahamians are weary of the oft-repeated fiction that they own BTC. Ownership implies having some stake in the company. Although as tax payers they underwrite staff salaries, they cannot even demand good service.
With the sale of BTC Bahamians will eventually be able to buy shares in the company and have share certificates to prove that finally they do own a piece of BTC.
Although Bernard Evans, BCPOU president, claims that unionists are against the sale of BTC, there are unions that have refused to join in his protest.
Many are particularly upset after his reckless threats promising unrest similar to the violence in the past few weeks in Egypt.
Mr Evans has asked Bahamians to have patience with BTC because the public's services "will be affected somewhat" because of the union protest.
Mr Evans seems to forget that Bahamians have exercised years of patience, grudgingly tolerating their high prices and indifferent service.
Now that Bahamians see a way out and a deliverer on the horizon, they are ready to jump ship.
Patience is at an end.
February 14, 2011
tribune242 editorial
tribune242 editorial
YESTERDAY'S Gleaner reported that Cable & Wireless Jamaica, trading as LIME Jamaica, "continued its financial haemorrhaging in the December quarter, posting a $1.3 billion loss for the three-month period, nearly triple the $351.4 million of a year earlier."
Despite this its managers continue to look on the bright side, insisting that they are on the verge of turning the company around.
According to The Gleaner, Jamaica LIME has been in "retreat for the past decade since it lost its monopoly in Jamaica's telecommunications market."
"That's what happens to monopolies," said a Bahamian who is close to the situation. LIME Jamaica was doing the same foolishness as BTC because it felt secure in its monopoly, he said, then Digicel, an Irish company with dirt cheap rates, came in and ran it out of business.
It was this lesson from fierce competition that forced Cable & Wireless into the efficient company that it is today with Digicel waiting in the background to meet it head on in the Bahamas when the floodgates are open to competition.
One can now understand why the Bahamas government has offered and C&W - having learned from its Jamaican experience -- has accepted the three-year protection cover from monopolies for BTC's cellular service.
If it were not for this three-year period to build BTC up to meet competitors, the Bahamas' Telecommunications Company would crumble under the strain. C&W, on the other hand, although stumbling in Jamaica is prospering in Barbados and Trinidad.
But there is no room for hubris. There is much to be done to get BTC in a position to meet the competition, and for three years the BTC staff, who are interested in their company, will have an opportunity to prove that they are not among those who deserve to be made redundant.
In an interview with the Jamaican Observer last year, Digicel CEO Colm Delves, said that Digicel looked at the Bahamas, but was not interested in just having a stake in BTC, and so it decided "to pass on that."
"What was being offered there was a stake in the existing operator," said Mr Delves. "We think that when liberalization takes place there, then that will be the appropriate time to enter that market."
So in three years time Digicel and others might be the wolves at the door. Cable & Wireless will have to have BTC ready to meet the challenge and regardless of what Mr Evans, Mr Carroll and their unionists claim, they are babes in the woods, ignorant of the hungry sharks waiting in the world of competition to devour them and BTC.
Judging from the various polls, street talk and radio talk shows, the majority of Bahamians approve the sale of BTC to C&W.
They want better service, more choice, cheaper cell phone rates, access to mobile TV and the ability to phone the Family Islands as a part of the Bahamas, not as foreign islands with overseas charges.
Bahamians are weary of the oft-repeated fiction that they own BTC. Ownership implies having some stake in the company. Although as tax payers they underwrite staff salaries, they cannot even demand good service.
With the sale of BTC Bahamians will eventually be able to buy shares in the company and have share certificates to prove that finally they do own a piece of BTC.
Although Bernard Evans, BCPOU president, claims that unionists are against the sale of BTC, there are unions that have refused to join in his protest.
Many are particularly upset after his reckless threats promising unrest similar to the violence in the past few weeks in Egypt.
Mr Evans has asked Bahamians to have patience with BTC because the public's services "will be affected somewhat" because of the union protest.
Mr Evans seems to forget that Bahamians have exercised years of patience, grudgingly tolerating their high prices and indifferent service.
Now that Bahamians see a way out and a deliverer on the horizon, they are ready to jump ship.
Patience is at an end.
February 14, 2011
tribune242 editorial
Monday, January 10, 2011
Will the BTC protests really turn into a mass public movement, a la 1958, and in turn - into a political jackpot for the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP)?
The BTC protest - a political circus
By PACO NUNEZ
Tribune News Editor
After today, it will be even harder than before to keep a straight face when someone tries to tell me there's no political agenda at work in the protest against the sale of BTC.
It might have been possible to overlook the PLP cronies sprinkled throughout the union-led Rawson Square protest before Christmas, or ignore the interesting coincidence of a Trade Union Congress vice president and vocal BTC-sale opponent being chosen as a PLP candidate.
But it would have taken a far larger dose of self-delusion than I am capable of administering to miss the implications of the National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU) deciding that today, as it commemorates the 1958 general strike, it will also begin recruiting voters for the first time in its history.
I know this is a first, because when the press release was issued on Friday announcing that the NCTU - an umbrella organisation covering a number of unions including the two representing BTC staff - was calling for all its members to descend on the Parliamentary Registration Department at noon on Monday, it struck me as so strange that I sought an explanation.
"Why a voter registration drive?" - a seemingly simple question. It nevertheless met with such a bewildered reaction at NCTU HQ, you'd have thought I'd stumbled on a state secret.
The first person I spoke to declined to offer an answer. The second, very cagey and clearly suspicious, responded, "Because of the anniversary of general strike," as if the one followed logically on from the other.
She seemed very sure this was the reason, repeating her mantra regardless of how I tried to rephrase or qualify the question.
Eventually, she offered the slightly more helpful, "Because of Majority Rule" - which, granted, does seem a better reason to promote the spirit of representative democracy. Except that, as she admitted when asked, the NCTU had never once before, in the organisation's 16-year life, urged its members or affiliates to register as voters.
"Why now?" I asked, but she merely mumbled some blurb to the effect that since they were already planning to commemorate Majority Rule and the General Strike today, they figured, "Might as well add something else to the mix."
It has nothing to do with BTC or the PLP, she insisted.
Now, maybe I'm just a cynic, but it strikes me as highly unlikely that the choice of that specific "something else" while the labour movement is right in the middle of a busy schedule of angry town hall meetings and confrontational press statements - all directed at the government over the BTC sale and all supported by the opposition - was entirely without ulterior motives.
My opinion, I feel, is supported by the fact that the registration drive is being hitched to so emotive an issue as the celebrated General Strike, with all its connotations of taking a stand against injustice, the power of solidarity to overcome adversity and so on.
Then, there's the fact that so many unionists have already sought to tie the protests against BTC to the General Strike, some even threatening a reenactment of the event which paralysed Nassau for around three weeks.
Also, consider that the man who actually announced the voter registration drive on Friday, the NCTU's secretary general Robert Farquharson, is a big fan of the events of 1958, recently conducting a lecture series on their importance and raising the spectre of a repeat performance in 2008 when he threatened a national walkout of 45,000 union members over the BTC privatisation process.
This is the same Robert Farquharson who was lately president of the BCPOU, the union now protesting on behalf of the disgruntled BTC workers.
The same Robert Farquharson who, though vociferously opposed to the government's deal with Cable and Wireless, said nothing when the PLP revealed their earlier deal to sell the company to an unnamed group of foreigners - a decision his successor Bernard Evans distanced himself from, saying he doesn't think any foreign entity should own BTC and that he couldn't speak for Mr Farquharson's actions.
Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting Mr F is taking instructions from the PLP, or trying to drive voters into their waiting arms in the hopes of some political reward. He, like the other union leaders who've declared against the deal, understand the challenge it represents to their powerful and lucrative positions, and probably feel their potential to recruit for the opposition is nothing more than a threatening stick to wave in front of the government right now.
As an old BCPOU man, the NCTU secretary general will be well aware of this potential. After all, his predecessor as president of that union is now the PLP MP for Golden Gates, Shane Gibson, who led a series of high profile, politically-loaded union protests toward the end of the FNM's first stint in power.
Shane Gibson is also one of the point men on the PLP's BTC controversy-stirring team. He and his cohorts are well aware of the possible benefits of hitching their political cart to the anti-Cable and Wireless bandwagon, and I'd be willing to bet that the seed of this new enthusiasm for "voter registration" was subtly planted in the minds of NCTU members following one of the opposition's strategy sessions.
But will it pay off? Will the BTC protests really turn into a mass public movement, a la 1958, and in turn into a political jackpot for the PLP?
My money is on 'No'.
The reason is, while both the General Strike and today's BTC squabble began as protests by a small group of workers trying to protect their own interests - in the earlier case, taxi drivers - the reaction of the public has not been the same.
Today, the people don't seem to view most BTC workers the helpless victims of ruthless economic and political overlords, but rather highly over-paid, chronically underachieving wasters who have held the rest of us hostage with their incompetence and poor service for far too long.
Consider the fact that only about 300 people showed up at the recent NCTU-TUC Rawson Square demonstration, despite the presence of a large number of labour leaders from a wide array of unions, and that the BCPOU's public town hall meeting last week was attended by only a few hundred people.
As there are 1,200 BTC employees in total, it would seem the union leaders can't even get their own members, let alone the general public, involved in the crusade.
It seems this theory will be tested tonight, as the unions plan to hold a mass anti-BTC sale rally at RM Bailey Park and have invited all members of the public to attend.
We shall see what level of support these union leaders really enjoy - that is, once the crowd estimates have been down-sized to factor in the PLP supporters likely to be bused in to make up the numbers, political rally style.
What do you think?
Email: pnunez@tribunemedia.net
January 10, 2011
Tribune242 Insight
By PACO NUNEZ
Tribune News Editor
After today, it will be even harder than before to keep a straight face when someone tries to tell me there's no political agenda at work in the protest against the sale of BTC.
It might have been possible to overlook the PLP cronies sprinkled throughout the union-led Rawson Square protest before Christmas, or ignore the interesting coincidence of a Trade Union Congress vice president and vocal BTC-sale opponent being chosen as a PLP candidate.
But it would have taken a far larger dose of self-delusion than I am capable of administering to miss the implications of the National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU) deciding that today, as it commemorates the 1958 general strike, it will also begin recruiting voters for the first time in its history.
I know this is a first, because when the press release was issued on Friday announcing that the NCTU - an umbrella organisation covering a number of unions including the two representing BTC staff - was calling for all its members to descend on the Parliamentary Registration Department at noon on Monday, it struck me as so strange that I sought an explanation.
"Why a voter registration drive?" - a seemingly simple question. It nevertheless met with such a bewildered reaction at NCTU HQ, you'd have thought I'd stumbled on a state secret.
The first person I spoke to declined to offer an answer. The second, very cagey and clearly suspicious, responded, "Because of the anniversary of general strike," as if the one followed logically on from the other.
She seemed very sure this was the reason, repeating her mantra regardless of how I tried to rephrase or qualify the question.
Eventually, she offered the slightly more helpful, "Because of Majority Rule" - which, granted, does seem a better reason to promote the spirit of representative democracy. Except that, as she admitted when asked, the NCTU had never once before, in the organisation's 16-year life, urged its members or affiliates to register as voters.
"Why now?" I asked, but she merely mumbled some blurb to the effect that since they were already planning to commemorate Majority Rule and the General Strike today, they figured, "Might as well add something else to the mix."
It has nothing to do with BTC or the PLP, she insisted.
Now, maybe I'm just a cynic, but it strikes me as highly unlikely that the choice of that specific "something else" while the labour movement is right in the middle of a busy schedule of angry town hall meetings and confrontational press statements - all directed at the government over the BTC sale and all supported by the opposition - was entirely without ulterior motives.
My opinion, I feel, is supported by the fact that the registration drive is being hitched to so emotive an issue as the celebrated General Strike, with all its connotations of taking a stand against injustice, the power of solidarity to overcome adversity and so on.
Then, there's the fact that so many unionists have already sought to tie the protests against BTC to the General Strike, some even threatening a reenactment of the event which paralysed Nassau for around three weeks.
Also, consider that the man who actually announced the voter registration drive on Friday, the NCTU's secretary general Robert Farquharson, is a big fan of the events of 1958, recently conducting a lecture series on their importance and raising the spectre of a repeat performance in 2008 when he threatened a national walkout of 45,000 union members over the BTC privatisation process.
This is the same Robert Farquharson who was lately president of the BCPOU, the union now protesting on behalf of the disgruntled BTC workers.
The same Robert Farquharson who, though vociferously opposed to the government's deal with Cable and Wireless, said nothing when the PLP revealed their earlier deal to sell the company to an unnamed group of foreigners - a decision his successor Bernard Evans distanced himself from, saying he doesn't think any foreign entity should own BTC and that he couldn't speak for Mr Farquharson's actions.
Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting Mr F is taking instructions from the PLP, or trying to drive voters into their waiting arms in the hopes of some political reward. He, like the other union leaders who've declared against the deal, understand the challenge it represents to their powerful and lucrative positions, and probably feel their potential to recruit for the opposition is nothing more than a threatening stick to wave in front of the government right now.
As an old BCPOU man, the NCTU secretary general will be well aware of this potential. After all, his predecessor as president of that union is now the PLP MP for Golden Gates, Shane Gibson, who led a series of high profile, politically-loaded union protests toward the end of the FNM's first stint in power.
Shane Gibson is also one of the point men on the PLP's BTC controversy-stirring team. He and his cohorts are well aware of the possible benefits of hitching their political cart to the anti-Cable and Wireless bandwagon, and I'd be willing to bet that the seed of this new enthusiasm for "voter registration" was subtly planted in the minds of NCTU members following one of the opposition's strategy sessions.
But will it pay off? Will the BTC protests really turn into a mass public movement, a la 1958, and in turn into a political jackpot for the PLP?
My money is on 'No'.
The reason is, while both the General Strike and today's BTC squabble began as protests by a small group of workers trying to protect their own interests - in the earlier case, taxi drivers - the reaction of the public has not been the same.
Today, the people don't seem to view most BTC workers the helpless victims of ruthless economic and political overlords, but rather highly over-paid, chronically underachieving wasters who have held the rest of us hostage with their incompetence and poor service for far too long.
Consider the fact that only about 300 people showed up at the recent NCTU-TUC Rawson Square demonstration, despite the presence of a large number of labour leaders from a wide array of unions, and that the BCPOU's public town hall meeting last week was attended by only a few hundred people.
As there are 1,200 BTC employees in total, it would seem the union leaders can't even get their own members, let alone the general public, involved in the crusade.
It seems this theory will be tested tonight, as the unions plan to hold a mass anti-BTC sale rally at RM Bailey Park and have invited all members of the public to attend.
We shall see what level of support these union leaders really enjoy - that is, once the crowd estimates have been down-sized to factor in the PLP supporters likely to be bused in to make up the numbers, political rally style.
What do you think?
Email: pnunez@tribunemedia.net
January 10, 2011
Tribune242 Insight
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