Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/3223/-1/140/
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PARTING WORD FROM FORMER LABOUR COMMISSIONER Need For Good Relations, Labour Union, Jobs For Anguil
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Former Labour Commissioner, Evalie Bradley, took up an appointment of Principal Assistant Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office on Monday January 16.
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Mrs. Evalie Bradley
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Mrs. Bradley served as Establishments Secretary in the public service before becoming Labour Commissioner, a post in which she served for just over four years. Reflecting on her work in the Labour Department, she said she thoroughly enjoyed her job and had left with a sense of satisfaction that she had done what she had to do to the best of her ability.
Asked what parting message she would give to employers and employees, Mrs. Bradley replied: “Labour impacts our everyday lives. Employers and employees need each other. It is very important that when you establish that employer-employees relationship that you do so built on the pillars of honesty, integrity and mutual respect. I believe that when that relationship breaks down it is because those principles are breached one way or the other. There must be that mutual understanding.
“There is no way that an employee can go to work any time and expect that your employer would accept that. Likewise, employers have to be fair to their employees. If they work for $50 a day, don’t pay them $40. On both side of the fence, there should be an honest day’s day for an honest day’s work. I think that once you can establish that kind of understanding, it would make for a good and successful employer-worker relationship because each needs the other. The Government will have to put the social infrastructure in place, such as legislation, to make it work. All the stakeholders need to live up to their side of the bargain.”
Mrs. Bradley made a point relating to the need to employ a number of work permit holders to fill various positions in the private sector. “While I accept that we have our human resource deficiencies, I am still of the view that where Anguillians are suitability qualified to fill certain positions, by all means they should be given every opportunity.
“I must be very frank and honest to say that I find that in some cases this is not so. Sometimes I get the view that certain people, who hold work permits, do not want Anguillians who are suitably qualified too close to them. It is expected that whatever skills and knowledge that they have, they would transfer to our local people to build up our own human resource base.
“We do not expect that when we give out a permit for one or two years that we should continue to do so for up to ten years ... [thus allowing the holders] qualify for their Anguillian status and then position is out of the door. It is something that we really need to work on. My position is that if we do not give Anguillians a fair opportunity, and one they deserve, we would be no better off down the road. Once the Anguillians feel disenfranchised by the system, they will react. Employers, managers and investors need to understand that. There is need for training, but where Anguillians are qualified to fill positions, then it is only fair ands right that they be given the opportunity to hold those positions.”
While on this subject, Mrs. Bradley took the opportunity to urge parents to take responsibility and accountability for their children and their education if the Anguillian work force is to be properly sustained later on.
Mrs. Bradley observed that labour relations and administration in Anguilla would continue to become more complex. She recalled that shortly after becoming Labour Commissioner she had been advocating for employers and workers to set up representative organisations in order to look after their interests and thereby also easing the burden on the Labour Department.
“As it is now, the Labour Department is the only recourse that employees, more so, have when they encounter problems between management and labour at the workplace,” she continued. “As I have always said, there are abusive employees but equally so there are very abusive employers and more often than not the employees find themselves in the weaker position. ...[For example,] an employee comes to the Labour Office and says that “I have been working for 56 hours per week but only paid for 44 with no overtime”, or only paid at the normal rate, what recourse does such a person have but the Labour Department? When an employee comes and says that I have been on maternal leave but my employer refuses to pay me for my maternity leave, the only recourse they have again is the Labour Department or, alternatively, the court.”
Mrs. Bradley said employees saw the need for a trade union, but they had an element of fear. “They are fearful that if they get involved in a labour union their employers would victimise them,” she stated. “I must be very frank and honest that when it comes to unions, one employer told me in no uncertain terms that unions will be destructive to Anguilla. I think we have to move beyond that and think about the importance of a union, and how it can improve the whole atmosphere of labour relations and national development generally in Anguilla because, quite naturally, there are concerns about the work ethics of employees. Another matter, a union is not only there to fight for extra money and other conditions of service, but to educate employees about good work ethics, team spirit, good relations and so on.”
She said that despite the absence of a union, and despite meeting with some resistance at times, the Labour Department, under her watch, has had many successes in maintaining good employer-employee relationships. According to her, there is a need to undertake some capacity and institutional strengthening of the department. This will be helpful because, as the island grows, the labour problems will become more complex and there will be a need for “tools to respond to the myriad of problems, changes and trends in the labour market.”