Est.2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

Banner promoting anonymous crime reporting with a phone and contact number 1 800 TIPS (8477), featuring the Crime Stoppers logo and a QR code for submitting tips.

Industrial Climate In Barbados Heats Up As a General Election Approaches

← Back

Your message to the BLOGMASTER was sent

CONTACT THE BLOGMASTER ONLY

CTUSAB hierarchy
Sir Roy warning LIME
Mary Redman, President of the BSTU
BSTU Consultant Patrick Frost
Sir Everton watching a cricket match on the weekend, Jeff Broomes was also in attendance.
Emergency CTUSAB Meeting
Leslie Lett and Amanda Greaves, key players in the AX dispute
New Alexandra head and deputy along with Karen Best, deputy chief education officer and Laurie King, Chief Education Officer
Minister Suckoo and Sir Roy, key players in the LIME/BWU dispute

Thanks to traditional media for helping us to do a pulse check of the industrial climate in Barbados today (7 January 2013).

  • The Barbados Workers Union (BWU) has threatened to shut down the country if LIME refuse to return to the negotiating table after sending home 97 workers last week.
  • Jeff Broomes has been reported to be on sick leave suffering from hypertension and did not report to his new posting today.
  • BSTU reports that the 18 teachers will report to headquarters until the ministry of education withdraw the transfer letters.

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

  1. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    Still waiting for the government to grow some cujones, and stop this blatant disrespect of the islands students. Exactly what are the taxpayers paying this bunch for if they don’t have any executive powers that they can execute???

  2. Clone Avatar
    Clone

    I am waiting until Thursday where sick leave certificates would have to be at the schools for which these Mary Redman’s Transferees should be.
    Then we would see if the PSC is a joke organization

  3. David (not BU) Avatar
    David (not BU)

    all of that happening in Barbados? The PM talked about the BLP’s new website on the news tonight. clearly he does not see these things as a problem, so why should the rest of us.

    the country is going forward well the DEMS will say…

  4. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    The Barbados Workers Union (BWU) has threatened to shut down the country if LIME refuses to return to the negotiating table after sending home 97 workers last week
    **********************
    Once upon a time I was in Barbados and fearing for my return to the land of prairie oysters as the BWU threatened to shut down the country if some workers were not rehired by Sandy Lane or the Royal Shop did not reinstate some workers. Last time I checked those workers made a serious miscalculation, hey that reminds me somebody better take notice, what is that quotation again “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana)

  5. David Avatar
    David

    It is obvious LIME has decided to do what it has to do and to hell with the BWU. If the BWU couldn’t get Sandy Lane and Royal Shop problem solved OR the Diamond International employees back on payroll is anyone going to take a tired Sir Roy seriously?

    LIME miss BWU talks

    Monday, 07 January 2013 23:52

    Officials of the Barbados Workers Union are threatening an island wide strike following the failure of LIME, to turn up for joint talks under the mediation of Labour Minister, Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo at Warrens.

    Those talks were to focus on several issues including the dismissal of ninety-seven workers from LIME’s retail stores and its back offices.

    The talks between officials of LIME and the BWU were set for just after one o’clock and were scheduled to focus on several issues including the dismissal of the workers from LIME’s retail stores and its back offices.

    However officials from LIME didn’t turn up at Warrens for the discussions but the company wrote a letter to the labour minister indicating why it didn’t attend the meeting.

    Dr Byer-Suckoo used the occasion to meet separately with officials from the BWU and she told reporters she’ll be making another attempt to try and get officials from LIME to return to the bargaining table with the BWU by Wednesday.

    BWU general secretary Sir Roy Trotman told reporters that if LIME doesn’t rescind the dismissal letters sent to the workers by Wednesday and fails to return to the bargaining table, it will seek support from the union’s executive council by Wednesday afternoon to initiate an island-wide strike.

    Last week Managing Director Alex McDonald told Barbadians LIME had no choice but to make critical business changes, including at its retail outlets and back office.

    But BWU boss Sir Roy has described the move by LIME as reprehensible saying they came in the middle of negotiations on the matter between LIME and the union, under the chairmanship of top labour officials.

    This latest stand-off between the BWU and LIME is evoking memories of a confrontation between the two parties thirty-two years ago, when the union initiated a three week island wide-strike against the telecoms giant in January 1981.

    http://www.cbc.bb/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5864:lime-miss-bwu-talks&catid=36:local-news&Itemid=59

  6. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    The PM was accusing the BLP for publishing the names of the Barbados electorate on their website. He sounded very concerned that people now have information on voters on the island including their national registration number. Can anyone expand on this?

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @Islandgal

    The BLP has a feature on their website which allows Barbadians to establish if they are on the voters list. When it was launched last week it obviously was incorrectly implemented because when a person entered a name the website ‘returned’ the person’s national I’d number; a privacy violation. It was quickly corrected.

  8. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    I just checked the BLP website and there is no indication of any published list of voters, there is a page to check to see if you are a registered voter. I wonder if that was what he is talking about. You will have to use your Nat registration number to check. Isn’t the voters list already computerized? Is Frundel afraid of the technology or is he playing it safe? Does he have a valid concern?

  9. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    Thanks David, wouldn’t you think that the website might have been tested before publishing it? That was very careless of the website builder. They need to get rid of him or her.

  10. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    More incompetence!!!

  11. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    If the PM wants something useful to do, he can address the RIDICULOUS situation that ONLY EXISTS IN BARBADOS, where a voter can be identified by the actual BALLOT which they place in the ballot box.

    This means that after elections, officials can look to see EXACTLY WHO VOTED FOR WHO so that they can allocate jobs, contracts etc accordingly.

    Obviously Tom Adams did this…. and no one have bothered to undo it….

    THERE SHOULD BE NO IDENTIFYING MARKS ON BALLOTS. Instead, ours are tagged to the voters NID number.

    SHAME…. Have we no pride at all?

  12. ! Avatar
    !

    Well, it is good to be back. Cynthia Forde should be shame but then again, she has no shame – talking about how the money spent on the Alexandra Enquiry could have been used to do this and that.
    You know what Cynthia, the 60 million that the BLP economic guru threw away in Greenland could be subsidising everybody’s electricity bill right now and “put more money in our pockets”.
    It is amazing that as soon as the BLP is in opposition, they got all the answers to the problems that were festering in this country for so long and some gullible BLP supporters actually beleive them. Stupse.

  13. Hamilton hill Avatar
    Hamilton hill

    Lets put Lime and the BWU aside for the moment.I am with Clone on this one.The PSC told us that they followed the letter of the law as they enacted these transfers.Now its time to show Barbados who runs the show.

  14. Observing(...) Avatar
    Observing(…)

    @david and islandgal
    The feature as was changed now requires you to know your. Nat. I’d number. Not much different from most sites. The list is not a “free for all” and in any case, both parties usually receive lists anyhow.

    Now BWU has decided to go all in. Clearly LIME isn’t backing down easily. Don’t know enough to comment but it makes for a rocky start to a year where there’s an election. Gives the impression that the leaders are “not in control.

    Observing

  15. just wondering Avatar
    just wondering

    I am truly amazed at the current position of the BSTU in the Alexandra saga. If they statement that only 4 teachers cannot be transferred is correct, why then are they encouraging the other 18 NOT to report for work? They should be fired. Primary schools teachers, principals and senior teachers are transferred all the time. Are primary schools operating under a different act from secondary? It is clear that Ms. Redman believes that the BSTU is a law unto itself. She wanted Jeff Broomes gone but that still does not satisfy her. Now her intransigence and irresponsibility is affecting all those schools that have been assigned Alexandra teachers. This makes no sense. I hope these teachers who are behaving as though they are part of the cement of the school and cannot be moved get what they deserve. persons in government are transferred all the time. They may not like it but it is NOT illegal. Shame on you BSTU!

  16. David Avatar
    David

    @Just Wondering

    The BSTU appears to be pinning its argument on the punitive nature of the transfer and the likely impact the transfers is expected to have on the education system. The question now becomes: should they strike or challenge in court given the weight of legality of the transfer letter?

  17. DR. THE HONOURABLE Avatar
    DR. THE HONOURABLE

    Mary Redman
    Now thats my bitch right there
    I want her so bad , it is hurting my head -(the smaller one)
    Billy Ocean just sang the words -“she said I was the Tiger she wanted to tame-” /Caribbean Queen/ on Admiral International’s show -on 94.7 .

    Most appropriate words at the minute.
    Mary is perhaps in the words of the immortal, you know who, the Shrew that I want to tame.

    I want to try my hand with Mary Redman
    Freundel Stuart is too dotish to deal with this Shrew.
    I want her and I want her bad

  18. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    Someone voiced a concern when the current politicians got into power in 2008, he wanted to know how his representative knew that he voted for him, now there is no Freedom of Information Act in Bim, why then are politicians still allowed to know who voted for them AND WHO DID NOT. THIS STINKS OF HAVING THE POWER TO RETALIATE AND DISCRIMINATE AGAINST WHO DID NOT VOTE FOR YOU. Interestingly, this voter has some beautiful daughters, and because of the known sleaziness of his St. James representative, was on to him in a heart beat. THEY REALLY NEED TO STOP THIS CRAP IN BIM. There is always talk of the injustices perpetrated by disgusting political leaders in Africa, and rightly so, but it now appears that bajan politicians have refined this disgust to a fine art, HOW DARE THEY HAVE ACCESS TO PEOPLE’S NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD NUMBERS. THIS IS OUT OF CONTROL.

  19. David Avatar
    David

    Access to the ballots would have to come by a Court Order. There goes Bushie again. What Court what!?!

  20. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    Dr THE HONOURABLE, you are very clearly underestimating what some people are capable of. Let’s just say, some people are given miles of rope to hang themselves, nothing personal just part of the sport. Just stay tuned.

  21. DR. THE HONOURABLE Avatar
    DR. THE HONOURABLE

    ! | January 8, 2013 at 7:45 AM |
    Well, it is good to be back. Cynthia Forde should be shame but then again, she has no shame – talking about how the money spent on the Alexandra Enquiry could have been used to do this and that.
    You know what Cynthia, the 60 million that the BLP economic guru threw away in Greenland could be subsidising everybody’s electricity bill right now and “put more money in our pockets”.
    It is amazing that as soon as the BLP is in opposition, they got all the answers to the problems that were festering in this country for so long and some gullible BLP supporters actually beleive them. Stupse.

    SO DOES YOUR STATEMENT MEAN THAT WE SHOULD KEEP THE DLP AND NEVER VOTE FOR THE BLP AGAIN ?.

    It is stupid thinking like that from the above quotation that will keep us back as a country. The last statement is particularly asinine but not surprising for a person that would choose an exclamation mark as a moniker–and who cannot even spell BELIEVE —- Asshole !

  22. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    Hmmn, now lets see who will benefit from all of this discord,disunity and confusion?

    Not lime employees,
    Not Lime,
    Not the BWU,
    Not Broomes,
    Not the transferred teachers,
    Not Mary redman,
    Not the BSTU,
    Not the minister of Education,
    Not the Ministry of Education,

    Yea, you guess right!!!!!

    LAWYERS, LAWYERS, LAWYERS

    In the background are LAWYERS

    “Advising” lime employees,
    “Advising” Lime,
    “Advising” the BWU,
    “Advising” Broomes,
    “Advising” the transferred teachers,
    “Advising” Mary Redman,
    “Advising” the BSTU,
    “Advising” the Minister of Education,
    “Advisting” the Ministry of education,

    The Lawyers have hit THE JACKPOT.

    money, money,…….M.O.N.EY(sang to the song of the Ojays”For the love of money)

    ………….and we all know that LAWYERS thrive on conflict.

    THAT IS HOW THEY MAKE THEIR M.O.N.E.Y!

  23. ac Avatar
    ac

    And all have legitimate reasons to fight city hall. talking about armageddon i belive we are a a hair short of its arrival.

  24. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    They the ones INSTIGATING the conflict with all their ADVICE. Need a new law in bim, as some have been saying for years, CUT OUT THEIR TONGUES.

  25. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

  26. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    These problems are not intractable, but if they are resolved, how will the LAWYERS laugh all the way to THE BANK?

    Just take a look at the VIOLET BECKLES affair FESTERING for decades but still LAWYERS, prominent and not so prominent, making a ton of M.O.N.E.Y OUT OF IT.

  27. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    “Access to the ballots would have to come by a Court Order. There goes Bushie again. What Court what!?!”
    *************
    FUNNY!
    The fact that you and most Bajans take this for a joke confirms Bushie’s assessment that we are a bunch of brass bowls- mostly good for making a lot of useless uncoordinated sound.

    The lawyers and politicians have no choice but to screw us…. What would you do if you came across hundreds of thousands of easily accessed female rabbits? (Using Rihanna’s terminology…)
    …willing to sell off their vital life supporting assets like hotels, manufacturing, Energy, Food,
    …willing to employ Trinidadian and Guyanese to MANAGE our sugar industry (when theirs have failed long ago…)
    …willing to sell our power company to an international money making machine
    ….willing to have politicians manipulate our vote with BRIBES, and even to be able to check HOW we voted
    …willing to put up with a Court system that is laughable…
    …a police Commissioner that is an international joke
    …and on and on…

    No wonder Caswell has no interest in any proposal for reform…he must know that it is useless to try to help fools….they just turn around and kick you anyway…

    EVERYONE ALWAYS GET EXACTLY WHAT THEY DESERVE.

  28. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    They CAN’T laugh all the way to the bank with their TONGUES CUT OUT.

  29. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    IN OTHER WORDS YOU GET (TAXPAYERS) WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

  30. ac Avatar
    ac

    Gone are tha days when people took negotiations at face value signed with a handshake negotians aand contacts and legitimate legal documents signed by both and agreed upon to be followed as set out in the document and there is no getting around it. when a company or any other emplyer refuses to honour said document there should be called upon To show proof as to “why” and not use the Bush Tea approach of firing everyone which impedes on on the employees “rights” to challenge

  31. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    ac, why you don’t leave Bush Tea? You ain’t see that old onions is back….? Pick pun he fuh muh……!

  32. Gabriel Tackle Avatar
    Gabriel Tackle

    @David
    At the polling station in the US exit polls are allowed so that the news media might ‘call’a victory for a candidate based on the exit poll.Evidently,that’s illegal in our system but here is the disgusting alternative.Two agents sit in a strategic position and you are told you must show them your ballot paper.These agents can at a glance see whom you have voted for based on the column you have put your X .They won’t ever see mine because (1)a ballot is supposed to be secret so no polling agent can influence me to show my ballot to anyone(2)I place my index finger on the ballot in such a manner that neither agent can see my choice of candidate.
    @Dr The Hon
    Cynthia Forde was expected to spew garbage on the AX affair so long as Mia
    spewed hers’.Forde is a blind follwer of Mia and seem to have a problem being an original thinker.

  33. My 2 cents Avatar
    My 2 cents

    Broomes could have won the battle for public opinion yesterday if he turned up at Parkinson. It would show he put the children and their education first before any selfish tantrums. Reporting for duty immediately outfoxes his nemises Redman and Frost in the court of public opinion and much of his infelicities would be forgiven. He spurned a golden opportunity to show us he is bigger than the pettiness gripping the BSTU.

  34. ! Avatar
    !

    @Dr. The “Dishonourable ” AKA Owen Arthur’s puppet –
    you even adopting Arthur’s vocabulary. The truth hurts – The BLP waste milions and millions of taxpayers money and now in a global recession talking about tax cuts. Where are the cuts in expenditure going to come from?
    There is more than ample evidence of Arthur’s incompetence and wastage. The BLP is PRETENDING to have all the answers but refused to do many of the same things that they are clamouring to be done now – like reduce expenditure and transfers to state agencies.
    I would be tempted to use your language and call you an a**hole but that would be a promotion and elevation for you.

  35. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    I agree with you My2cents that Broomes should have turned up to work at Parkinson and show that he is a bigger man. He would have won the respect of everyone. Some times one must play the humble fool to show up the rest of idiots.

  36. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    What has taken place is that players are defiant and want to fight to the death. Are these people adults? Or kids in grown bodies?

  37. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    Q: How do you get a group of lawyers to smile for a photo?
    A: Just say, “Fees!”

    Q: How does an attorney sleep?
    A: First he lies on one side and then on the other.

    Postal Service Goof
    The Postal Service just had to recall their latest new stamp issue. Lawyers were part of the design and people couldn’t figure out which side to spit on.

  38. Whitehill Avatar
    Whitehill

    We know that LIME sucks, however, this time I’m giving them credit for their service…firing those schmucks. All too often customer service has made my return home a nightmare. Is there another company out there with the balls to call their wretched employees for what they are!

  39. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    Whitehill – You get so tired of the mostly bad customer service in Bim, take some advice don’t stay long. I had to deal with 2 instances of disrespect in one day while there, I was so exhausted from dealing with the first one (gas station) had no energy left to complain to Lime for the second. These customer service reps need to be trained and retrained and retrained …………………………..most of them, no manners, good morning is the extent of their manners and then they make it sound like it’s a chore, rude crude and utterly and annoyingly disrespectful. FIRE THEY ASSES.

  40. David Avatar
    David

    @Bushie

    Relax, it was a sarcastic position taken. Infact we agree on the issue, balloting should be a secret between the voter and his or her God.

  41. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    AMEN!!!!!

  42. ac Avatar
    ac

    Bushtea onions not saying anything .you have Set yourself high up on the perch “easy pickings”

  43. Observing(...) Avatar
    Observing(…)

    @DAvid
    “The BSTU appears to be pinning its argument on the punitive nature of the transfer and the likely impact the transfers is expected to have on the education system. ”

    Proving punitive is near nigh impossible. Even if they do, then we can argue that Broome’s was punitive as well. IS the BSTU ready to accept that??

    The transfers impacted the Alexandra School and isolated operations at some schools. The education system is still very much intact. 🙂

    Well, as faulty intact as it always was that is.

    Any bets on Byer-Suckoo brokering a deal? lol

    @Wondering
    Yip, the others should report to work. End of story.

    Just Observing

  44. Whitehill Avatar
    Whitehill

    @Well Well. did you noticed 90+% of the bajans accept this obnoxious behavior with a smile, instead, would chase you back to wherever, because you stood up and complained? Even get in little groups and try to laugh at you. “‘ man wuh he doan guh lung back, mekking suh much noise in de place.”

  45. Well Well Avatar
    Well Well

    Whitehill – That’s because it’s the way they treat each other on a daily basis, and the only thing they agree on is that the behavior should NEVER be changed, especially by Bajans who live abroad.

  46. Peltdownman Avatar
    Peltdownman

    @Gabriel Tackle
    Agree with you totally. I noticed it during the election before last. Make sure that you don’t follow their instructions and make sure that you cover the entire ballot with your fingers when placing it in the box. The way they ask you to present it does show the “X” through the ballot paper.

  47. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ islandgal246 | January 8, 2013 at 10:11 AM |
    “. agree with you My2cents that Broomes should have turned up to work at Parkinson and show that he is a bigger man. He would have won the respect of everyone. Some times one must play the humble fool to show up the rest of idiots.”

    Whoever is advising Broomes is a bigger idiot than previously thought. Hope it is not a relative of ac.
    The man was advised by the miller to turn up for work, after a few hours or the next day complain about feeling unwell and then proceed on sick leave as a result of his “exaggerated” elevated hypertension. Most adult Bajans can empathize with him. After all we wouldn’t want the man to take in with a stroke brought on by Mary’s nagging (Bushie might argue menopausal eruptions). Period!!
    Broomes man wha ya gone and do? Get rid of those legal swindlers.
    These lawyers have had too much of a feeding at the taxpayers’ trough. Fumble’s legal friends are now the tax payers’ parasites.

  48. kevin Avatar
    kevin

    Those LIME workers made a serious mistake. LIME is a private sector company, not government where they think they could not report to work during Christmas for whatever reason. Customer service is very poor there and was affecting the company’s profit line. Whilst I agree that the dismissals were quite hasty, those workers have to take part of the blame for their seemingly nonproductivity.

  49. kevin Avatar
    kevin

    And on Broomes issue. The man suffering from hypertension and was advised by his doctors to take some time off.Not to had to believe given what he was placed through couple of weeks ago. He has a legit reason to be at home. Next thing yah know he gone up Parkinson and collapse or some thing worst.

  50. Man from de East Avatar
    Man from de East

    Fire all of them teachers, them aint working and still getting paid, the Minister of education tell them to report for work!!!!

    the BWU barely blowing smoke, all 97 of them workers going home with the usual big payout package, just let them go long

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading