INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Harding is Victorious Pg. 2

Evans is Re-elected Pg. 3

BEWU Pays Courtesy

call on the Minister

of Labour

Pg. 4

The Question of Gam-

bling in the Bahamas

Pg. 5

The Split Pg. 6

Remembering Marry Pg. 8

Know Your Rights Pg. 9

July, 2012July, 2012July, 2012 V o l u m e 6V o l u m e 6V o l u m e 6

National Congress of Trade Unions of the BahamasNational Congress of Trade Unions of the BahamasNational Congress of Trade Unions of the Bahamas

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 internal

strife and court battles.

Her goals for this term in office include the following:

The completion of the Industrial Agreements for Bahamasair Holdings Limited

and 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 General

Ms. Esther Clarke Treasurer

Ms. Patria Rahming Trustee Ms. Janet Rolle Trustee

Ms. Melanie Rolle Trustee

Ms. Cora Bowe Branch Chairman Mr. Christopher Moss Branch Secretary

AAAWU

Labour Day

Parade 2012

President

Nelerene Harding

V O L U M E 6 P A G E 3

The members of Bahamas Com-munication and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) returned Mr. Bernard Evans as President fol-lowing elections held 17

th July,

2012. It was however noted that voter turnout was very low and membership over the years has declined. This Following downsizing at the Broadcast Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB) and the Bahamas Tele-communications Corporation (BTC). Mr. Evans stated that he was confident of a successful outcome. The executive team includes:

Bernard Evans President

Edley Swain Vice President

General Secretary Dino Rolle

Asst. Secretary General Sherry Benjamin

Treasurer Ulric Mortimer

Asst. Treasurer Dayvette Bain

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 - Abaco

Photos

Kyle Smith/

TNG

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. Harcourt

Brown, and the discussion was very fruitful. Information and photo sub-

mitted by Mr. Stephano

Greene, President BEWU

V O L U M E 6 P A G E 5

To understand the cur-

rent argument being waged in the Bahamas

about gambling, one needs to go back in his-

tory. The following page contains excerpts from

the Faith that Moved the Mountain on the issue. It

is quite interesting to compare the arguments

of today’s church leaders against gambling and

those of their predeces-sors .

Rev. Philip McPhee of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church

challenges the Church not to be stagnant how-

ever, Dr. Ranford Patter-son of the Bahamas

Christian Council (BCC) has stated that that or-

ganization is diametri-cally opposed to gam-

bling. The church is split on this issue, and so is

the community, this sets the stage for a heated debate leading up to the

referendum.

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 to keep a gaming house on however

small a scale. In spite of this illegal-ity, Mr. Louis Wasey and the Baha-

mian Club operated small casinos in Cat Cay and in Nassau. In order to

legalize these two operations, Sands drafted the now famous amend-

ment to Section 257 (10) of the Pe-nal Code that authorized the Gover-

nor-in-Council to issue licences to those two casinos and any other

persons they thought fit and proper.

On November 14, 1945, the Hon-ourable Stafford Lofthouse Sands, at

the age of thirty-two, accepted ap-pointments to be on the Governor's

Executive Council and to be Leader of Government Business in the

House of Assembly. Three months after these appointments, he applied for a complete monopoly on casino gambling on

behalf 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 again refused.

Harping on the same string, on March 20, 1963, Sands applied to the Government on

behalf of his client, the Bahamas Amusements Limited, to operate casinos in hotels in Grand Bahama. This licence was granted on April 1, 1963 and was to remain in force

for 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 up

to that point was to discourage gambling. How then did Stafford Sands succeed in obtaining 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.

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 of

Sands' 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 April

1, 1963, three of the six unofficial members of the Governor's Executive Council and two of the United Bahamian Party's members of the House of Assembly entered into

agreements with Grand Bahama Development Corporation, the company which fi-nanced the casino operation. The agreement provided for the regular payment of

monies 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 Honourable Etienne 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 the Grand 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 family Continue reading on www.sirrandolfawkes.com Beginning on page 291

V O L U M E 6 P A G E 8

Marion Stuart was a member of The Bahamas Federation of Labour in the 1950s and 60s and gave considerable support to Sir Randol Fawkes during the Sedition Trial in 1959 and wholeheartedly participated in all of the ac-tivities pertaining to the trade union movement. A tall, slim woman who had tremendous zeal and passion, she was given free reign by Sir Randol

to speak at the meetings held at Windsor Park. As one approached Windsor Park, her voice could be heard booming over the microphone. She had tre-mendous courage; made full use of the Bahamian vernacular and dialect and had no fear of openly excoriating and castigating the powers that be. "Marry" as she was affectionately called by the Fawkes family will never be forgotten and will be remembered for her unswerving loyalty and dedica-tion to the cause.

Marion Stuart Information and

photo submitted by

Ms. Rosalie Fawkes.

V O L U M E 6 P A G E 9

THE EMPLOYMENT ACT 2001 KEY POINTS

Sick and Vacation Leave

Employees are now entitled to one-week sick leave during a calendar (1) year with pay. 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 vacation with 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 your vacation. 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 Labour Publication.

V O L U M E 6 P A G E 1 0

ILO Turin Centre

http://www.itcilo.org/en

International Trade Union Confederation http://www.ituc-csi.org/rio-20.html

the ILO Workers' Relations Bureau http://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.org

www.sirrandolfawkes.com

P A G E 1 1 V 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 Sir

Randol Fawkes gave to the Bahamas Federation of Labor's newspaper in

1959. This current newsletter gives to you, the worker, a voice—a means to

communicate with your fellow brothers and sisters in the union. Additionally,

through the Workers’ Voice, you now have the opportunity of profiling your

union 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 Bahamas Ph: 242-356-7459 Fax: 3242-56-7457 E-mail: ncongress@hotmail.com Website: nctu-bahamas.org