TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016
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Loretta: Labour reforms ‘most hare-brained’ yet By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A former FNM leadership contender yesterday slammed the Government’s proposed labour law reforms as “the most ludicrous, ridiculous and harebrained legislation I’ve heard of”. Loretta Butler-Turner, the party’s labour spokesman, told Tribune Business that the private sector would be sent into “a tailspin” if the Government imposes “criminal liability” upon employers for failing to inform it of redundancies involving 10 or more workers. And, with the Christie administration also proposing to remove the ‘12-year cap’ on employee severance pay under the Employment Act, Mrs Butler-Turner said
FNM MP fears private sector ‘tailspin’ if enacted ‘We want to grow jobs, not frighten them away’ Says minister, labour chief conflicted by union past Loretta Butler-Turner businesses would become increasingly wary about hiring new workers. This, she added, would have the effect of reducing both unemployment and economic activity at a time when the Bahamas needed GDP growth more than ever.
Mrs Butler-Turner also argued that both Shane Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance, and Robert Farquharson, the director of labour, were the wrong persons to be in charge of the Government’s workforce policies, given that both likely harboured
pro-union sympathies given their backgrounds. “That is the most ludicrous, ridiculous, harebrained piece of legislation I have heard of being proposed,” Mrs Butler-Turner told Tribune Business of the proposed Employment Act reforms, which were presented last week. “Can I say it any more vigorously than that? The reality is that we want to grow employment, not frighten it away. You’re telling me that you’re going to put that liability on the private sector? It’s going to stop them hiring people.” The Christie administration wants to make it mandatory for employers to provide two months’ (60 days) notice to itself and the relevant bargaining agent (trade union) whenever they are about to make 10 See pg b5
Union chief: Employers Govt to spend $2.5m are ‘resistant to change’ monthly on fighting Zika By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A trade union leader yesterday suggested the Bahamian private sector will eventually “come round to reality”, with its response to proposed labour law reforms showing it does not react well to change. Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, told Tribune Business he had been “surprised” at the vehement reaction of employers to the controversial reform proposals unveiled by the Government last week. He challenged them to say that Sandals had behaved properly in terminating its 600-strong Royal Bahamian staff to facilitate $4 million worth of repairs, adding that this was not the procedure followed “in most civil societies”. Mr Ferguson and other trade union leaders were last night still in a meeting with Prime Minister Perry Christie and senior government officials over the Sandals matter, amid labour movement warnings that it is “planning something major” if the Government fails to satisfy its concerns. While the meeting went beyond Tribune Business’s press deadline last night, Mr Ferguson told this newspaper that he could not understand why employers were objecting so vigorously to
Suggests they will ‘come round’ on labour law reform Ferguson: Severance pay amount ‘debatable’ Unions’ Sandals meeting with PM lasts into the night
Obie Ferguson the two reforms proposed by the Government. “I’m having some difficulty understanding the reaction,” Mr Ferguson said. “Change is not something easily acceptable, but the employers will come round to realise that you can’t have someone who works for you See pg b5
By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
The Ministry of Health has allocated what would be a $30 million annual budget to tackle the Bahamas’ Zika virus outbreak, a senior official yesterday acknowledging that this had forced it to adjust its financial plans. Dr Glen Beneby, the chief medical officer, said the Government - through the Ministry - had allocated some $2.5 million per month to combat Zika. Dr Beneby, who addressed a conference held by the Ministry of Tourism, added that the need to maintain public health required such a budget. “When situations like this occur they go beyond
Translates to $30m annual outlay Bahamas requires $50-$100k lab investment sometimes what you would expect,” he explained. “We had looked at doing upgrades to our services in the public health sector before this actually happened, and then on August 9 we got our first case. “Once that happened we realised that we were going to have to do additional spending. We have teams in the Ministry of Health who were given the specific responsibility to review See pg b4
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BISX targets ‘more proactive’ approach on price discovery By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Bahamas International Securities Exchange’s (BISX) chief executive yesterday conceded that it needed to be “more proactive and ensure the market better reflects” prices that will stimulate trading activity. Keith Davies explained to Tribune Business that last week’s expansion of Bank of the Bahamas’ ‘trading bandwidth’ to 54 per cent was intended to achieve this exact objective for a stock whose price has not moved for over twoand-a-half years. He said the Bahamian capital markets already appeared to have “adjusted” to the move, as some 25 Bank of the Bahamas shares traded last week at a price of $2.41 per share - a major departure from the $5.22 they have been stuck at for months. Other ‘sell’ orders, including one seeking to offload some 89,586 shares, have also been placed at See pg b3
BOB price ‘not moved since November 2013’ 54% ‘bandwidth’ move aimed to stimulate trading Davies declines comment on BOB ‘compliance’
Keith Davies
GBPA urges strike of ‘watershed case’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) is urging the Supreme Court not to permit a web shop operator’s Judicial Review to become a “watershed case” against it. Freeport’s quasigovernmental authority and its attorneys, in submissions filed on September 2, 2016, are arguing that See pg b4
Web shop’s case ‘first Judicial Review’ it has faced Port says dispute should be ‘private law’ matter Chances Games slams ‘abuse of process’