Submitted by Mahogany Coconut Think Tank and Watchdog Group
Ralph ‘Bruggadung’ Johnson had to issue a clarification statement after he accused Bajan workers of being lazy and inefficient.
We are not surprised that the workers of Barbados in particular and the Caribbean in general, are being accused of being “lazy” and basically non-productive. It is not unusual for those who have built up fortunes on the backs of the workers, to unleash their venom on the same workers. It demonstrates that the employer class in the Caribbean is functioning as masters and is not interested in anything other than their bottom lines.
The entire Caribbean was built on the backs of cheap labour (slavery) and those who have inherited this wealth believe it is their divine right. Unfortunately, the Black political managerial class is so spineless, that it refuses to put the historical facts of our development on the front burner of national discourse.
We note progressive citizens, who entire mainstream politics, quickly distance themselves from their activist platform and become consumed by petty party politics. This allows the inheritors of the wealth to continue their focus on building financial empires without being concerned with broad national development policy or goals.
Those who “have made it”, understandably, do not want to rock the boat. The truth is that in terms of real poverty, the poorest workers/people in the Caribbean are the descendants of slaves. This means that Afro Caribbean citizens although the majority in places such as Barbados, do not control the commanding heights of the economy. The current onslaught on the workers and the unions is a direct effort, in our opinion, to exploit the workers and eventually destroy the trade union movement. The current economic health of the region is fertile ground for such machinations.
We maintain those earning wages below $350. BDS. (175 USD) per week, are at the poverty level, taking into consideration the cost of living in most Caribbean countries. Coupled with these low wages, we still have many households without proper indoor plumbing facilities. In at least one country, we are aware that some schools don’t have what are commonly known as “water toilets”. This means some children have no access to a proper health environment at home or school.
Furthermore there have been no considerable efforts at progressive worker participation and the hopes of economic enfranchisement have not materialized.
When we examine the above, the Mahogany Coconut Group is obligated to speak the uncomfortable truth. Workers of the Caribbean unite!
“The entire Caribbean was built on the backs of cheap labour (slavery) and those who have inherited this wealth believe it is their divine right. ”
You mean the whole world was built on the backs of cheap labour. There will always be low paying jobs, this is a reality that many of us must face. If we continue to live in the past we will never move forward in the future. Whatever system of government a country adopts, there will be always be people at the lower end of the economic graph. No system is perfect.
Take the unions for example, the union bosses drive around in the most expensive luxury cars, live in upper class neighbourhoods, own many homes and their children are exposed to the best education has to offer. They do not live like the people they represent. They do not earn low wages like the people they represent.
“It demonstrates that the employer class in the Caribbean is functioning as masters and is not interested in anything other than their bottom lines.”
Mahogany Coconut…….Hello are you a businessman? If you are do you adhere to the above principles? Are you still in business?
What many are doing is supplementing their low wages with side jobs, services and cottage businesses. They keep their low paying jobs until they can move on to better things. By the way have you checked out these low wage earners homes? Do many of them own plasma TVs? The latest blackberry phones? The latest brand name clothing?
Can you imagine if we were a barter economy? How many you think will survive? Look Mahogany bird until you can find another alternative we will ALWAYS have people at the lower end of the economic scale.
“In at least one country, we are aware that some schools don’t have what are commonly known as “water toilets”. This means some children have no access to a proper health environment at home or school.”
Does water toilets stop children from learning? There are now dry toilets that are environmentally better so who needs water toilets? I am sure these schools have water to drink and wash hands. I am sure you came up without a water toilet at some time in your life. Did it kill you?
Things take time to change and in some places it is slower. There are international organizations with funds that assist needy countries and schools. What is needed is someone to tap into these funds for projects like the one above. The only problem is that many schools do not see these funds after they have been disbursed and are still waiting.
There will always be that tension between labour and capital. Those who employ capital will always pressure to maximize return. What is interesting is that we live in a world where the dynamic of employment has changed. The way how labour and capital interact will have to keep changing.
“you shouldn’t waste a recession” this is the mantra of those in the private sector. All the efforts made in the pass for workers are being eroded, such as an 8 hr work day, a lunch break, sickness leave, vacation pay etc. Dr. Hon. Esther Byer Suckoo started the first attack, that I’m aware, by stating that Christians in the workforce are resulting in poor productivity and work ethic in the workplace. The next was Ralph ‘Bruggadung’ Johnson who called all workers in Barbados lazy, and thirdly we have John Williams – Barbados Private Sector Association, calling on legislation which is against workers interest.
@Anon
When Errol Barrow referred to the civil service as an army of occupation what did he mean?
When the National Productivity council and responsible stakeholders in civil society suggest we need to improve productivity what do they mean?
Well said Mahogany and what is more amazing is that some of our own would happily agree. this is nothing new the Term “lazy Blacks” was an effective tool in days of slavery one which cause blacks to feel a sense of shame! guilt! and less worthy! .It is sad to see that that term has again raised its ugly head by those who fortunes seem to be dwindling because of the economic downturn but instead of facing reality these elitist find it easier to demean blacks and take us back to a time best to be forgotten.
Yes workers of the Caribbean unite, all you hard working, dependable, honest, tax paying unite with your lazy brethren against the slings and arrows of mr Johnson. How absurd Just because some may not like what the man said doesn’t make it untrue. We all know them the people who collect a salary, and conveniently forget what they are being paid for . Everyday in this arena someone is complaining about a judge, politician etc who are underperforming. Does anybody think it is different in the private sector? Quit killing the messenger, on behalf of the users.
We agree that Caribbean workers need to unite but not under current leadership. People like Trotman and his ilk have carried workers into a dead end. Unions have to stop relying on authoritarian systems.
Interesting to her John Williams (head of the private sector group) outlining a simple strategy government should put in place as a matter of priority. The irony is that there are all policy positions which we have been preaching n BU for years. The need for workers to become MORE productivity is a real world reality and has nothing to do with what has occurred back in the day.
@Baffy
Did you hear John?
Fast track legislation to support business facilitation which single out forex earning/saving projects etc?
Barbadians have this phobia to invoke the race phobia based on the messenger on not the business logic.
@ David
David a lot of generalizations are being thrown around about workers whether they be Christians, or of the civil service, ( or politicians – 🙂 ) and I don’t think it is fair on the workforce to paint everyone with the same brush. I prefer to think that the system suffers from poor customer service and not really understanding the importance of, and therefore appreciating the customer. I don’t think some workers make the connection between a customer spending money and how it impacts on the organisation they are working for. If they do, then they seem to be some form of “passive resistance” to the system, and as a customer you notice it when interacting with workers in certain places, and this is where the employer comes in. I often believe that the manner in which workers in an organisation respond to their job, is a reflection of the employer and his managerial team. More often than not workers go the extra mile for employers who threat them well.
@Anon
Agree with your last comment and of course it is a generalisation but it is up to respective businesses to measure where they are falling short and ensure good performance metrics are put in. In the case of unionise environments there is too much oneupmanship practised and despite what the social partnership suggest there is high mistrust between the stakeholders.
Look idiots it is time you recognize that too many bajans want everything free. The port workers are spoilt and unscrupulous. Self employed do not want to pay taxes but want free state services. Leave Ralf alone. Iam black and think also that too many of us have grown lazy. Look dishonesty is also on the rise here too. Burglaries, robberies, thefts, frauds, and common trickery are the order of the day. You are also raping and molesting the young boys and girls from ages 03 and onwards. This nation is becoming a place of thugs and limers who know not God.
Brugadung is so correct. I have watched criminals eat down Baxters Road, Bay Street and Bridgetown in general. All day long gangs of limers, vagabonds, ruffians, hooligans, thieves, robbers and gangsters prowl the town. We have lost our way. These fields and hills will soon not be our own. Remember ‘Pride and Industry’. Stop the political crap and get reallllllllllll
EWB comments should not be interpret as “lazy” EWB comments were not genrated by greed and selfishness but as a motivatorand having t best interest of the country However most black understand the WHYS and the rationale behind such a term”lazy blacks” used by the elitist and find it offensive. The elitist motivator is one ofselfishness and greed and not for the good of the country .Unlike EWB who understood that our progress was inpart heavily relied on self
There is truly nothing new under the sun.
During slavery it is said that slaves in Barbados found it difficult to run away from the “system” and couldn’t actively resist, so what they would do is try to damage the equipment used on the plantation as a measure of passive resistance which would frustrate the system. This of course augurs well unless you have slave masters like those in Egypt who despite the presiding conditions demanded that the Jews make bricks without straw. You know what, the Pharaoh referred to the Jews as being lazy like the Bajans so he imposed these measures.
@Anon
Forgot to mention that we know full harmony will never exist between labour and capital BUT while labour must be protected we cannot forget that it is the owners of capital who have to be encouraged to invest in a climate where confidence is promoted. It seems nowadays we have to adopt an adversarial approach which does nothing to enhance the opportunities for workers.
It is so difficult to understand why some people cant get over the past, when a businessman today with his money on the line says lazy worker he means lazy worker regardless of race , gender, faith or sexual orientation but some people all they hear is lazy black man….. give it up,….. you and your ilk and your jaded view is what is holding up progress in Barbados, mired in your self righteousness you will be the death of the economy shame on you
It is really interesting how the workers are being targeted as the scapegoats for the current economic ills facing this country.
Workers are not slaves or serfs and have their rights just like the controllers of capital whether financial or material.
Low productivity among “Workers” can only be explained through the defective prism of incompetent piss-poor management. Workers look to their “bosses” to lead by example.
Management in Barbados is one big set of jokers; many of them especially in the public sector are pure lackeys and bullshitters put in charge primarily of their family ties, social and political connections and very rarely for the competence and effectiveness to motivate and train workers.
In any event why should workers, whether in the private or public sector, go over and beyond the “norm” to increase productivity when there are little or no incentive systems in place to encourage them? Why should they increase their so-called productivity when they will not be sharing pari passu with the owners or managers in those gains?
Until proper and fair incentives are put in the work place and people are put in management positions based on merit and abilities to motivate, cooperate and to lead by example then we are just spinning top in mud and using the poor workers as an excuse to implement draconian measures to futilely attempt to correct a defective economic system primarily resulting from poor leadership.
We only have to look at the current quality of leaders both in the government and private sector and see where most of our structurally defective management problems exist.
Let us use our justice system as an “excellent’ example starting with the AG, DPP, and CJ.
We will not even mention what is in the Cabinet that should be full of true workers and leaders of the people but instead is full of parasites undermining the whole governance structure.
@ David.
Agreed, but you can’t go around denigrating your entire workforce, and then expect to encourage these owners of capital to invest in the island. I don’t think that the powers that be are seeking a cause, but prefer to react to, and threat the symptoms.
how can one expect the best of the best from any people or person by demeaning them. it is like shooting one self in the foot it is obviouss that a negative reaction would be the result. .the Term lazy blck has become a normality buy those who have been using it and acceptable standard for pushing barbados forward . however it couldn.t be further from the truth as it brings out resentment to whom those words have targeted and spills over in an economy which can no longer afford to be depressed
@Miller
Understand your point but the issue at play here is more complicated. We have a heavy unionized group which contrast starkly with a non existent entrepreneur class. This is a dynamic which we need to explore; the ethos of the employer employee workspace.
@ sashquash | July 31, 2013 at 9:28 AM |
“Brugadung is so correct. I have watched criminals eat down Baxters Road, Bay Street and Bridgetown in general.”
He is NOT! Mr. Johnson might be misguided but certainly not right.
If Mr. Johnson is prepared to widen his definition of “WORKERS” to include the thieving lying white collar criminal that sit around Board tables and collude with frauds and swindlers to practically steal from the naïve savers and poor pensioners without facing justice for the willful and deliberate acts then we would be also prepared to go along to some extent with his general castigation of an entire lot of defenseless ordinary Barbadians many of whom themselves were robbed blind by these “management class” of criminals.
When he calls for the exposure and charging of these CLICO white collar criminals including the Board to face the justice system then we will listen to his ilk.
Again, a classic example of attacking an easy vulnerable target. A brand of social paedophilia.
@ Miller
Well said!
EXACTLY THE POINT,
What lazy workers what?,
A worker (employee) is only as lazy as the idiots in charge allows, encourages, pays, and condones.
Shiite man! If some jackass boss is going to pay you a salary (and a good one at that, since they are pissing scared of Caswell and Sir Roy) why the hell would a brass bowl Bajan work any harder than they are required?
Steupssss…. No wonder Brugadung feels that the problem with sport is that the athletes are too lazy too…
The problem is ALWAYS one of leadership and management.
Negative reaction??? you are already getting a negative reaction that is the problem no praise or raise is going to make these leopards change their spots. Praise should be heaped on those who deserve it .I remember when we first came to Canada there was no real welfare system to speak of you got off the boat running and god forbid if you took assistance if you were physically and mentally able to work Family and friends would treat you like a dead beat. Today that has all changed, it seems like the norm is to take it as your right , rather than reserved for the ones that need it and laugh at the idiots that work hard for their money. In a room full of people with no supervisor some people would work extra hard most work for what their paid but a small group are along for the ride. Quit blaming bosses quit blaming the past and expose these sycophants for what they are.
Hasn’t the BWU confirmed that it has worked with Harris Paints (Bruggadung’s company) to implement a performance management system which encourages high productivity and has allowed that company to be competitive. We need to understand what the man is saying.
It is staggering that in this post-independence era in Barbados that there are persons on this BU blogsite who continue to unnecessarily and illogically accept a very degrading pathetic low class status in social life in this country and all other countries that is called – worker – by virtually every living adult human being everywhere.
One of the very abhorrent things about it too is that with many of the real educational opportunities available to these same persons to help build and develop further much of what they came and found in the national social educational sectors in this and some other countries, they still continue to wallow in the political sociological tragedy that some of them must see themselves, and some other persons wheresoever too must view them, as being workers; and that they and those same others must construe it too that to be functioning as workers must be the unalloyed natural characteristic roles that they have to accept and perform through out their respective earthly sojourns.
While it is quite unfortunate that persons of the ilks of the same Ralph Johnson, Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo, etc, have recently been found apparently to be talking down to many of these workers in their relevant criticisms of them, it is the more telling than that that these workers – aided and abetted by unionist fools like Roy Trotman and influenced by political jack o lanterns like Owen Arthur of 30 000 jobs idiocy – still see themselves as reaching the pinnacle of their lives in commerce, industry, investment and finance in Barbados, when they become workers.
Well, the majority of workers are at the bottom of the social ladder in Barbados for, yes, the damned despicable causes of oligarchic political exploiation, oligarchic political economic dispossession, oligarchic social marginalization and the real political features, strategies and systems that really support them it, but yes too for the very damned causes that they themselves too have determined that where they are at is their essential lot in social life and do not seem to think that they can develop to higher states of existence than being workers in such a treacherous work system/culture in the political industrial realms, when they can really actualize greatermore than where they unseemly remain at, whatever the percieved political and other challenges, present or to come.
The fact is that the work system/culture is a part of this long running millenial macro universal cyclescrew that involves political business, commercial and financial activities being at the forefront of many social changes throughout world histories.
The fact too is that this work system/culture only became the dominant and vile political exploiation approach used by monarchies, oligarchies, and other tyrants to help create these massive class and status divisions and differentials that have been produced across many different human social existences in the 18th and 19 th centuries in Europe and in many other parts of this world; and only did it come about after the great dialectical political processes that were taking place then in those places had farcically compromisingly settled on the so-called capital labour dialectic model, to the great disfavour of the latter.
So it is clear that this work system/culture is just a couple distances ahead from the largely evolved parts of that same cyclescrew – the once dominant and horiffic dehumanizing manorial/ feudal serf system and the colonial enslavement system.
No wonder then that the process of emancipation is a continuing mass human force for greater freedom and liberty from the oppressive exploitative work system/culture in Barbados and elsewhere and a continuous mass human force too for greater freedom and liberty to grow and develop into greater states of inecessary ndividualism, voluntarism and association in business, ownership and exchange in Barbados and across the world.
PDC
A days work for a days pay…heresy, skewer mr Johnson for suggesting it.
Wunna dont know that during a recession works have to work harder and longer so that those at the top can maintain their plush lifestyles?
take this example, JADA laying-off construction workers (not as busy as one time) but Philip Tempro, the managing director still could keep 20 polo ponies home at him in Buttals. You imagine that in good conscience you could send home people, distrurb that people whole famaily and then turn around and keep and maintain polo ponies costing thousands of dollars per pony per month?
what should he do with the ponies Sir? turn them into corned beef?
@ lawson | July 31, 2013 at 11:30 AM |
No one in his right mind would gainsay, in principle, what Mr. Johnson is highlighting; i.e., a serious lack of productivity that is retarding the further socio-economic development of the country and what is urgently required to transform it into a more competitive player in this fast moving international marketplace with no more protectionist umbrella to hide under as was the case of the dead king sugar or the halcyon days of nostalgia tourism in old time quaint Bimshire.
What we are concerned about is Mr. Johnson’s narrow perspective (despite his subsequent attempt to widen the analysis) he brought to bear on the problem.
Is he including in the “High Cost of Wages” the massive salaries, commissions, consulting fees, perks and cost of providing high-powered Mercedes Benz to drive to Champers or the Hilton for extended lunches?
Aren’t managers themselves ‘workers in the corporate ant colony’ too including Board members and other Alpha primates who see themselves not as primus inter pares but as barons and corporate gods when walking among the lesser mortals called workers?
Basically doing business in Bim is no more than an exercise in managers and owners living above their corporate means with champagne taste in unjustified rewards and mauby productivity assigned only to the real workers.
Instead of system of reward based on quantity of input and quality of output we have a incestuous corporate culture that feeds on the unproductive waste of one another like crabs in a barrel with both black and white stripes as ample proof for easy identification and assignment of blame for the sea of shit the country is in.
What is amazing thatthese fat cats can openly make such dastardly statements and not be held accountable.believing that making a a selfserving retraction instead of a public apology to the barbadian workers woud be enough. only in these small islands would such statements be handed with kid gloves and we all know why…………….AS for the ponies the owner can lead by example and PRIVATISE
People’s Democratic Congress —- Please Disappear Clowns. I am tired of this untidy bunch of far out word calling empty bags. Leave us alone. Do you realise not that all of you lost your deposits last elections. Soundly rejected and embarrassed you must be if you have shame. I shall send your man some bags of shame. I lump you with David Come Along, David De Ny and Casual Frankloss
leave PDC alone
PDC no trouble to you
everyone has stake/say in matters
who you to diss PDC
Millar….One thing I never worried about was what the other guy had as long as I was paid fairly for the work I did. I am not a socialist what the owner has is his, what he makes is his if I am paid what I wanted, what concern it is of mine how many ponies he has All I know is the owner is taking the big risk, and gets the big rewards if it is a success. But if it fails he loses I lose the economy loses and if it means some streamlining has to be done to make it a success so be it.
Rarely will an employer release a good employee, only as a last resort, the problem is the line between good and bad employee has become blurred because anytime someone is let go whether justified or not the island is in shutdown, and everything suffers.
Thee are the words of Mahogany Coconut Think Tank and Watchdog Group from a recent post:
“One of our greatest cultural problems is our approach to time. Buses run late, we get to work late and then we realise that thousands of man hours are lost because of this simple fact. Without a proper public transport system, it is virtually impossible to improve productivity. Hence, those who live in societies where things “run” on time, immediately realise the importance of organising their business in order to catch the train or bus that they need to get to a particular point. The result is that time is not lost and productivity is less threatened. We all recall when we used to get days off to attend test cricket! Nothing wrong with supporting our cricketers, but in those days during five day tests, the entire Caribbean came to a standstill. It was just the way we did things. Little did we realize the negative results of being five days behind our business while we enjoyed our cricket? We also enjoyed shopping days for Christmas. Imagine getting time off at the peak period of commercial activity.During carnival and other festivals, we are known to “fire de wuk’ while we party. Once again, there is nothing wrong with partying but we can no longer afford to fete for a whole week and expect productivity to rise.”
Now contrast and compare that to Bruggadung statement.
Anyway Mahogany Court while you busy talking about productivity and Christmas days off, folks in the metropoles are pushing the concept of “Work Life Balance” including flexi-time and a day to watch cricket. In many cases there is no need to rush to work as you can seldom be late.
The truth is that many hard working Bajans live outside Bim. They have the realistic view that bigger, richer Countries and Companies are in a better position to pay top $$$$$$$$$$$$. When I migrated to Canada my standard of living more than doubled overnight, I was doing the same job with a bit more work it is true.
The racial angle taken here is not necessary,since my Black friends that own businesses in Bim complain about low productivity and Unions blocking progress. I agree that owners can be greedy and I certainly dont condone anyone who lays off good people while maintaining a lavish lifestyle involving horses. That is moral bankruptcy! However, those “workers” who have a bad attitude to productivity MUST learn the hard way if they cant figure out reality.
As long as Johnson is not telling the workers in Bim if they work harder, longer and be more productive they will go to heaven because a place is already being prepared for them, with that said, Bajans need to learn the art of working for themselves, growing their own food, be self-sufficient and independent of greedy employers who can be very lazy themselves. It has become cultural and destructive on the island the notion that you must be someone’s worker until the day you die, that’s slave minded rubbish, you have a brain for a reason use it’s creative skills.
@ ac
“What is amazing thatthese fat cats can openly make such dastardly statements and not be held accountable…”
***********
We can ALWAYS trust you to be wrong.
Brugga is correct in his analysis of Bajan employees…. WE ALL KNOW THAT.
The problem, as Miller so well puts it, is that the same is true of the managers, and in fact, the OVERALL BLAME must be theirs…
…who has the responsibility AND AUTHORITY to make and implement decisions?
….who hired the ‘lazy’ workers?
…who pays them the same as the hard workers? …and who (apart from Lawson 🙂 ) would continue to work hard as shiite when getting the same pay as the shirkers…?
…who gives in to the anti-productivity demands of the unions?
….who has the role of motivating staff?
……workers? NO! Brugadung and his big friends….
…so YES! Bajans are lazy as shiite…BUT THAT is NOT the root problem….merely a symptom of it.
The problem is that the LEADERS and Managers of Barbados are incompetent Brass Bowls…..
Why is everything tinged, GREEDY EMPLOYERS …. people run businesses who are fair and honest both black and white…. you are destructive to the island with your outdated slave minded baggage
@Bushie
If we go by today’s press report Minister of Labour will be calling a forum soon to discuss how to improve productivity. Of course the polite way to say Bajan workers are slacking …lol.
Sorry BushTea not to be left out, it comes down to professionalism and pride I took the job, and I agreed on the pay to cry about it after would be shallow. If I came to your door to install electricity and for 3 days you watched me and another guy work hard while a 3rd sat on your couch and did nothing. When I gave you the bill showing 3 guys labour for three days you would be telling me no ffing way your paying for him
@ David | July 31, 2013 at 2:10 PM |
Is the MoL trying to imply that the government’s underwritten NISE project has been an abject failure just like the Public Sector Reform movement and the Productivity Council which has nothing to show for its existence other than another useless appendage to give ‘sedentary’ jobs to politically connected mis-educated graduates?
The Minister of Labour needs to lead by example and have the Heath & Safety at Work Act implemented and applied right across the workplace. She also has to get the Employment Rights Act up and running to ensure fairness to both employee and employer.
@Miller
Are you equating service with productivity?
@enuff
Hopefully Mahogany will clarify the inconsistency.
Yes bush tea and u can always trust bajans to get a kick in the ass and ask for another and another.
which Bajans you talking about ….friends of Chris Brown?
David
Sorry, Williams is NOT one that I pay particular attention … Full marks for his appearance tho, typical White American styled executive.
Here is the thing. Productivity is an Industrial engineering term which like efficiency (a thermodynamic term) has been co-opted by profiteers to sell their agenda which of course is tied to their personal bottom lines.
If someone is to be productive, then their effort must be measurable.The offshoot of course is that their remuneration should be tied to their output ..
HA, here is the kick. Lime sent home its call answering staff a few years ago because they were spending too much time serving individual calls. Lime was prepared to sacrifice quality for quantity (always in dilemma in Industrial engineering since one always impinges on the other). If payment to the staff was indeed tied to the number of call taken, lemme tell yah, people enough would have complained about the rush approach and lack of quality service that would have been on display.
Take this model to Cheffette where staff pay would be based on the number of customers that they served … WOW. The management would get complaints from the STAFF that they were NOT performing as it would be Managements responsibility to bring the customers into the building so that the staff could make a living.
Take it to the Government workers whose job for argument sake is to dig a trench and their pay would be tied to the length of the trench dug. Lemma tell yah, the trenches would be dug so fast that the Government would have to lay the staff off as there would be no more trenches to dig.
The Productivity of the Productivity Council cannot be measured so perhaps their value to Barbados should be taken with a pinch of salt.
This getting too long now … 🙂
@ David | July 31, 2013 at 2:44 PM |
Barbados is today primarily a “service” economy. Unless of course you want to send them (workers) back to the cane fields.
The main measuring stick of productivity in a service-oriented economy is quality of service as measured and recorded in customer satisfaction and repeat business.
We certainly can’t compete on material input costs as in manufacturing only on quality of output with the premium being excellent (reliable) service underscored by that old 1980’s buzz business productivity phrase “getting it right the first time”, (almost).
@ lawson
Professionalism is an affliction that is suffered by a decreasing number of Bajans. You actualy do sound to be badly affected. Come back home and work for a couple months and Bushie can assure you that you will be quickly cured… 🙂
@ David
A minister calling a forum…..hmmmmm have we heard of such before…? LOL Ha Ha muh belly
@ Miller
…skippa, what the donkey wrong with you? You are on the ball, hitting sixes and fours and making lots if sense….. YOU feel OK?
…man yuh got Bushie offset….can’t find a thing to cuss you for on this thread…. LOL
WAIT MILLER…. Um ain’t wunna that start the productivity council, the Public Sector Reform and NISE?
….the only three things more useless than the army…. Ha Ha …
@ ac
Hush.
@Miller
Agree that we are a service economy BUT service is one of many measurables in a good performance management system.
Now le’ we speak about “efficiency” .. HA … What a scam. First, again, effort has to be “Measurable” and an efficient system is one that has NO waste… what goes in, comes out … 100%. Energy goes in (measurable) work is achieved (measurable).
Now how the f#ck can any reasonable person compare such a system to a business… Stupse.
In business, money goes in (investment) and Return on Investment comes out (personal profit), continuously until the investment is recovered and then some ie: you get out more than you put in. What the scampers are interested in is having people believe that it is okay to measure the money that is put into the company (measured in $) and compare that to the effort that is shown by the employees (only measurable as per my earlier post) and the two measurements are NOT comparable. Efficiency is a Jack Ass term when applied to the business context
It’s time for greedy employers to realize they are not going to become millionaires and billionaires off the backs of workers anymore, besides, employers in Europe and North America now use workers from countries such as the Middle East and Far East, Philippines etc, where they can continue to exploit workers by paying them slave wages of anywhere between 30 cents to $1 dollar an hour, slave wages, most internet jobs are outsourced to these countries.
In the case of Barbados and the Caribbean, they will have to be mindful going forward and do not once again become the exploited.
@ Baffy
…you know too much for your own good…..BU David too…. LOL
@ Enuff :” Hopefully Mahogany will clarify the inconsistency”
No where in the piece you quoted did the mahogany Coconut Group identify any group as “lazy” We were merely looking at culturally norms within the new economic reality and suggesting that we must strike a balance. We never said any group was unproductive. We merely said that productivity is threatened by poor public transportation. Finally , we ALL(Management and Workers) went to cricket, got days off for Christmas and WE usually have festivals and carnivals when WE all “fire de wuk” ( A Trinidadian expression) So to even suggest that our line of thinking is in concord with the statement that our workers are lazy is completely wrong.
Note the use of WE and ALL:”We all recall when we used to get days off to attend test cricket! Nothing wrong with supporting our cricketers, but in those days during five day tests, the entire Caribbean came to a standstill. It was just the way we did things. Little did we realize the negative results of being five days behind our business while we enjoyed our cricket? We also enjoyed shopping days for Christmas. Imagine getting time off at the peak period of commercial activity.During carnival and other festivals, we are known to “fire de wuk’ while we party. Once again, there is nothing wrong with partying but we can no longer afford to fete for a whole week and expect productivity to rise.”
@ David | July 31, 2013 at 3:32 PM |
“Agree that we are a service economy BUT service is one of many measurables in a good performance management system.”
And all of these other “measurables” must be characterized by one thing always. Quality!
Now let us look at this thing called Productivity. If a business is mandated to produce 1,000 cans of corned beef per day in order to meet a certain level of profit and return performance-related benefits to management would you say that business has surpassed its target and achieved productivity gains if 1,200 cans are produced but 400 of the cans (already sealed, boxed and ready for dispatch) have no keys attached for easy opening by the intended consumers?
Now whom would you blame for that? The lowly workers trying to meet and exceed productivity targets or the management on the ground?
@Miller
Really you need to come up with an example which represents the challenge of managing the ‘soft’ issues associated with people. What you described doesn’t cut it.
Miller …..being the lowly worker trying to meet or exceed productivity targets,…… I thought that was a question settled by the Nuremburg war trials. Who was to blame…..everybody
Who heard Comrade Booby Morris this evening in the news? He said the alarming fall in worker productivity in Barbados occurred because Barbados took their eyes of the ball post 1990s crisis. An admission from someone who has been on the frontline representing labour.
With a few exceptions, every product has a lifecycle.
Innovation and technology may extend it but eventually there comes a time when there is no market for it.
Workers and management can’t do much about that lifecycle except try and do as well as they can while it lasts.
Food is probably one of the few products that won’t see demand disappear over time. There will always be a market so long as there are people.
Sources may disappear due to competition and the top guy today may be at the bottom tomorrow.
Look at sugar here in the Caribbean.
Until the Europeans figured out how to get sugar from beet, the Caribbean was an important source. Now, Germany produces 15-20 times what Barbados produced in its two peak years.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-06/world-s-top-10-sugar-producing-countries-in-2010-2011-table-.html
@ David | July 31, 2013 at 7:03 PM |
OK if the example is too “hard” although ‘quantifiable’ can you suggest a set of criteria or yardsticks to apply against “measurables” in a good performance management system in relation to “soft issues associated with people”?
Conflict is part and parcel of life especially in the workplace. What objective criteria can be applied to measure ‘conflict resolution between capital and it representatives (management) and the providers of labour.
Would you say that the social partnership arrangement has been a resounding success in increasing productivity and managing conflict in the Barbados economy?
Sorry to say this David, but the recent incident involving Maloney and the Port workers is a good example of who really is boss (money and not bullshit hot air from the trade unions).
@Miller
It is known that the next step for the social partnership is to be able to put measures in place to measure what they are doing. Currently it is an arrangement. Of course leading companies put systems in place to measure soft issues, surveys, one on ones, 360s, observation etc.
On 1 August 2013 00:20, Barbados Underground
To many bajan workers are unproductive ,I once hired a mason and was paying him a daily wage. However, he was building about 100 to 120 blocks per day. The work was going to slowly for me and he offered to finish the job and he offered me a price which I was forced to agree to, to get the job back on track. He finished to job in three days and built the remainder blocks at about 270 to 300 per day. He came to work at the same time as before, took the same lunch hour and finished the same time in the evening. I must also say the blocks were built just as good as before. I was later told by another person that that is the norm for artisans, when doing day work they determine how much in their opinion is a day’s work and operate to suit, but speeds up when doing job work. To me that is not fair.
@june boy
It is always better to pay by job.
I have just read this entire thread, with the exception if comments made by AC, and for those who really need to understand what is going on, I suggest that you read Miller at 10:00 yesterday: he hits the nail on the head.
Do any of you really expect a worker to be happy and “productive” when he is being treated unfairly by owners and managers who have not come to the realisation that slavery done.
We have companies in Barbados that have a disproportionate number of white managers as opposed to their black employees. I would have no problem if these white managers were competent but in most cases they are the idiot children, idiot relatives or idiot friends of the owners.
Workers put their all into a company and when there is an opportunity for advancement, they see some idiot relative of the owner or manager take over the position but not the work. The worker is left to do the work still while the new incompetent manager draws a fat salary and perks for just being born white. Would you them go the extra mile in such circumstances? That is the core of the problem. This lack of productivity is only a symptom of the real problem, not the problem itself.
The same thing is occurring in the Public Service only that it is not black and white: it is BLP/DLP and worse yet if you are a worker without “P”. We see some very questionable appointments because of political interference. It intensified in 2008 starting with the appointment of the Chief Marshal and has gotten worse daily.
This post is urging Caribbean workers to unite without realising that the Caribbean unions have already done so but for the wrong reasons. Have you heard about the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), Caribbean Public Service Association (CPSA) and the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT). I have no knowledge of what transpires at CUT but I can assure you that over the years the delegates of those other two congresses have united in a very carnal way.
Despite the constitution of those other two bodied, it would appear that the main purpose of their AGMs and congresses is to get away from home and be unfaithful to the partners that are left behind. Over the years, I have had to endure the chest thumping stories of the delegates after they return from their “sexploits”. Not much else is achieved.
@june boy u sound like a slave driver. next time hire COW Williams
Job pay or the number of bricks laid (with an assessment of acceptable quality… )
Look Lawyers and architects can and do receive pay that is based on the VALUE of the project that has been engaged in. Like senior executives they would claim that their remuneration is based on “responsibility” … HA … a kind of incentive that ensures that the principals interests are soundly protected. They are NOT to be measured on the Productivity scale, in fact it is more likely that they see themselves as being measured on the Quality scale. Straight up .. drawing a percentage on the value of a contract I say is a convention, a tradition, a scam.
In life insurance, the agents are paid on the amount of business that they bring in. As a result the agents make a hell of a lot more than their bosses who real just stay in the office and do the administration thing. (If the boss is the head of his own agency though, he takes a slice of the money that the agent brings in). Could you imagine a system like this existing in any other field?
There is a case in equipment sales where the sales agent was doing so well that his salary began to rival that of his superiors, and the directors made the decision to cut the size of the commission.
Yagga Rowe,
Thanks for the support.
And have a blessed and commemorative Emancipation Day.
PDC
@Baffy
If things are so EASY being a Lawyer, Architect, Insurance Agency Owner et al which one of these areas are you qualified in or working towards?
Let me tell wunna a story. Mr Commie had a Safe in which he had many valuables BUT could NOT open, for weeks he tried. He called a Professional Safe Locksmith who arrived on time and opened the safe in 5 mins, he proceeded to present a Bill for $500 to Mr Commie. Mr C went ballistic at that price saying how thiefing that was! So the Safe guy just closed the Safe door and started to walk out! Mr C had to pay for EXPERTISE!
When Lightening hit my big tree and broke a major branch the Arborist charged $900 to use his expertise and specialised equipment, which is expensive to procure.When I had a plumbing problem the Plumber mash me up too!
Baffy, the Insurance Agency example exists in several other fields of endeavour! Investing and many Sales models!
Regarding bosses getting upset over commisioned guys making more than them, the classic example is in Toronto where it happened at one of the Big Banks. The boss actually told the Securities Authorities he was breaking the Law and it took 7yrs of torture to exoneraqte himself and sue the bank for $30MN!
MB
The only reason why I am not on Pacha’s thread is because you out dey … Man you come cross hey now?
The expertise thing is something that I did not cover and I agree with you. But when you have people coming back home after benefiting from national scholarships/exhibitions and claiming that “Bajans gun now start paying fah my degrees” (now a sitting member of Parliament) or that “my schoolmates in Florida mekkin’ three times wah I mekkin’ in Ba’bados” (a QEH consultant) I say that expertise pay should be tied to population size. If these ppl decide to get vex and move on, in today’s Global market, alternatives could be found. A well known brand name accounting firm brought in a highly qualified accountant/lawyer from India, put him up in a little 2X4, paid him a virtual cashiers salary and charged its clients exorbitant rates for his services.
@ Caswell Franklyn: “This post is urging Caribbean workers to unite without realising that the Caribbean unions have already done so but for the wrong reasons…….”
That is exactly why we are calling on the workers to unite. We already know that most of the associations and organisations designed or formed to bring the workers cause to the front burner have really become part of the problem. The Social Partnership is an example of this that we have already commented on and exposed. Unite here should be taken in a broader context and we want the workers to be AWARE of the ant-worker sentiment that is growing throughout the Caribbean. We are strong believers in activists trade unions/unionists.
We agree with your comments in relation to race and how some companies are still exploiting workers while their chosen ones walk in and reap all the benefits and perks. We also agree with your comments in relation to the same thing(s) happening via the BLP/DLP in the political context.
Hence it is clear to see that the Caribbean workers are facing a corporate /political complex that intends to destroy the workers movement.
@Baffy
What a confession! Let MB run you???
You are a gent with promise BUT you should attend the MB Re-Education Camp! lol
Transfer pricing and globalisation of markets are causing serious problems for Pols and everybody else. That is why there is $ one Trillion+ in UN- Taxed profits sitting outside the US! The business World has gone Global but the Pols are, as usual WAY BEHIND!
The REALITY is that when the US and Western World accepted China, Russia into the Global business fold they made a HORRENDOUS MISTAKE!
What does one expect when HALF of mankind decides to compete– MUCH LOWER LABOUR costs. Much lower standard of LIVING for the Western World!
Moneybrain………………..i can tell you it’s a freaking disaster, they are even trying to get workers from North America to accept the same salary they are paying the Filipinos, Indians etc., that would be 30 cents to $1.00 an hour, $3.00 – $5.00 an hour for managerial position…..all of a sudden everyone wants to pay slave wages, something has to give.
@WW
This is exactly why the Feds/ Homeland Security are buying couple Billion Bullets. Armored Cars, Building FEMA Camps, Accumulating Drones etc
Massive Social Probs coming!
Money………………i heard that loud and clear.
Calling Bajan workers lazy (in general; recruiting and motivating the hard-working minority has always been the key to business success here) is like calling a woman fat. Everyone can see it but no-one wants to say it.
The fact that the laziness has been institutionalised by the BWU and held up in high regard like a badge of honour in institutions like the Bds. Port and BWA rubs it in the face of everyone who cares to look. What a joke we’ve become.
@Frustrated Businessman
Tend to agree with you. Bajans have this penchant to become so addicted to the ideology of the ‘argument’ that we forget there is the opportunity to be pragmatic.
A good example of our double speak is the extent we have allowed the Sir Roy’s et al to become involved in the body politic. We confer knighthoods etc. This is wrong. These people who represent labour must/should position themselves as independent.
David
If you look around Barbados you would only find one independent trade union leader, and you know who that is.
@Caswell
And this is why the system will keep of your kind on the outside looking in. Many on this blog spend too much time focussing on personalities and NOT the system.
Knighthoods … Wah ’bout overseas postings as Ambassadors … Now hear is the thing lest you get carried way with this Frustrated Businessaire and David’s brown nosing comment. Both Political Parties carry the word LABOUR as part of their name … BOTH..! Both Parties claim to part of the Labout movement. Those people who were given given titles and positions were active members of the entities for extended periods of time.
If it is wrong to reward at a national level, these people for services rendered to the Political Party (under guise of serving a wider interest) it is equally wrong to reward those leaders of Private Barbados for services rendered to private companies (under the guise of serving a wider interest).
Nuff said ..!
“The entire Caribbean was built on the backs of cheap labour (slavery) and those who have inherited this wealth believe it is their divine right”
YOU ARE SO RIGHT and one would wonder if jackasses such as johnson was on the same leverage as many of our black brothers and sisters, where would he be today? people like him make me sick since they conveniently forget that their wealth, going back to the days of slavery was build from the blood, sweat and tears of black ancestors. to make it worse, according to our history books, the bristish governmernt made it law (slave laws) that no black man should have more than a white person. after emancipation, they made another law, you paid for land not according to its value but according to the skin colour of the buyer, i.e. if land was valued at $10.00 the white would pay $1.00 the while the black, poor man would pay $10.00. education did the same thing until 1961 when Barrow came along.
@Baffy
We can’t please all but your inclination to encourage bacchanal is known. Tis the season anyway!
At Pinkie, shoulder-chip exhibitionists like you are the reason Bajan black people continue to beat each other down. Ralph Johnson is descended from ‘redlegs’, just like most of the white people in this country are including some of the most successful like the Goddards. His wealth is self-earned and, like all self-made men who find themselves in the autumn of their careers should, he is qualified to say what the hell he likes. As far as people like you are concerned, keep it up brother! Bajans could always do with more excuses for their own failures.
Frustrated Businessman
Johnson’s wealth is self-earned? Sir, he could not have done it by himself: it was earned off the backs of the same lazy people that he seeks to condemn now. How many of those people who put in the hard work to make him wealthy are now themselves wealthy?
Cas, did you read Johnson’s letter? Are you an employer? Have you any idea the suffering employers in this country go through to get work done on an hourly basis? Yes, he did make a success of his businesses despite his lazy work force, and well done to him!
The real joke of the matter is that various ‘leaders’ keep suggesting incentive-based pay to solve the problem when anyone in the construction industry would tell you it doesn’t work. Pay a truck driver by the trip and he’ll make enough trips to meet his weekly expenses then not show up for work without telling anyone and park a quarter-million dollar piece of equipment that was needed by a customer at 7am the same morning. I never met one that would use the ‘incentive-based’ opportunity to make enough trips to retire early, thereby saving his employer the capital outlay and operational expenses for extra trucks.
You armchair experts have no clue what it takes to get work done in this country, stay behind your desk and out of the way of people who do. Maybe spend some time in the rum shop with all those ‘incentive-based pay’ port workers when they knock off at 11am.
@Caswell et al
Brugger did NOT inherit his wealth!
He took the RISK of starting a business and in so doing he CREATED JOBS!
If anyone working for him or anyone else can do things better they are FREE to start their own business with ALL the RISKS involved!
There are many black peeps that run successful businesses in Bim and worldwide. A black Bajan friend of mine whose Dad owned a Shop or shops turned to me about 15yrs ago and send” my dad is worth more than $1MN”.
I was pleased to learn that, although I did wonder how MUCH TAXES his Dad paid compared to my Dad. HINT— a LOT LESS! (if any). I have loads of Fisherman friends who own their boats, they are NOT hurting!
Why dont you gents start CELEBRATING the success of black Bajans in business and the Professions and stop bellyaching about white peeps? It really does NOT help the youth to believe they can be successful!
What do you think is going to happen? One day all the Whites are going to GIVE their businesses to Black peeps? While there is a certain amount of White Guilt about history there is NOT enough Guilt for that eventuality!
Personally i have always had many more black friends than white BUT I have NO INTENTION of handing over my Net Worth to anybody of any class, colour or creed! I avoid Taxes whenever and wherever possible!
Find SOLUTIONS to any unfairness in business and society, whether racially based or not.
Moneybrain……………….i keep telling them and they hate to hear it, use your brains and creative skills that you were blessed with to become independent of working for anyone particularly bajan ‘whites’ and there would be no cause for complaints, employ each other if you have to and be fair to each other, build your own businesses. People like Caswell and Carson (presuming Carson’s nose is not too fully engaged up some politician’s behind) will be able to realize that in the current economic environment, the minorities on the island bajan ‘white’ et al, some of whom still believe they are lord and masters of the majority blacks, because you encourage them and allow them to believe so, will have to reposition themselves, and i am sure that is what they are currently doing given Maloney’s actions i am also sure prompted by those he represents, in making sure they maintain their lock on the wealth for them and their masters going forward since they are aware that this economic environment can see them successfully dislodged from the myth that they are entitled to own everything in Barbados.
Now instead of keeping yourselves marinated in the politics, politicians who remain dumb as rocks and political parties, yall should be using your brain power to successfully dislodge the minority so you can benefit from the wealth that could be attained going forward, let the minorities and their offsprings become accustomed to the words, hard work, hard labor and working for you instead of the other way around. Wake the hell up.
“Now instead of keeping yourselves marinated in the politics, politicians who remain dumb as rocks and political parties, yall should be using your brain power to successfully dislodge the minority so you can benefit from the wealth that could be attained going forward, let the minorities and their offsprings become accustomed to the words, hard work, hard labor and working for you instead of the other way around. Wake the hell up.”
Good luck with that. Much easier to piss & moan than to get on with it. There are three types of people in this world; people who make things happen, people who watch things happen and people who wonder what the hell just happened.
Frustrated businessman | August 2, 2013 at 10:04 AM |
YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT
WHAT YOU SAY CANNOT BE DENIED.
GP & Frustrated Businessman…………we can only suggest and cannot make people do what they don’t want to do particularly if they prefer to remain in their comfort zones of whining, bitching, moaning and groaning while simultaneously fighting down each other like crabs. I hope their instincts are telling them that this is a different ball game and each person has to fight for their very survival going forward and it would be better that each one teach one and help each other moving forward…….up to them, let them sit around waiting to depend on the bajan ‘whites’ on the island and the foreign whites from everywhere else.
Well Well
No matter how hard you try to educate people there will always be some among us that will not become entrepreneurs. There will always be those among us that need protection from unscrupulous people who would exploit them. Many of these exploiters like their forefathers have become used to living off the sweat of others while not giving their workers a fair deal. When workers feel that they are being unfairly treated they react the only way they know how. Tell Bruggadown and the others, who think that Bajan workers are lazy, that they should try treating those workers fairly and they would see the vast improvement, and most likely it would not cost them significantly but their returns would more than compensate.
I whole heartedly agree Caswell………..given that blacks are in the majority on the island and also given that this economic environment is also wreaking havoc on the parasites who like their ancestors only know how to live off the backs of others, it is safe to say that they are no longer as entrenched as they are still pretending to be, they are now in a weakened state financially and now is the time while they are in transition trying to reposition themselves to make sure that they cannot continue what they have managed to accomplish for so many decades because the majority did not then have the confidence that they should have now, our ancestors did not have the knowledge most of us have in 2013, the saying is, and truthfully so, the hardest thing is to know, we know, there is no more excuse. Again, knowledge is power.
Regarding bosses getting upset over commisioned guys making more than them, the classic example is in Toronto where it happened at one of the Big Banks. The boss actually told the Securities Authorities he was breaking the Law and it took 7yrs of torture to exoneraqte himself and sue the bank for $30MN!
—————————————–
Please Explain !
I am so sick of the blasted idiots on this blog who complain about low wages but rush out to buy the cheapest things they can, made by people earning less than US$2.00 per week. You can’t have it both ways. People are always complaining about Bajan-made goods being expensive. How did they become so? They became so because the cost of doing business in Barbados is too high, and that includes not getting value for money from labour, and ESPECIALLY in the Port. Any businessman would love to pay 3 times the wages if they could get 3 1/2 times the output. Then everyone gains. THAT is productivity! It is win/win. “I want more money.” “I deserve more money”. How many employees (I have avoided the word “workers”, as a misnoma) who are not unionised in their workplace have actually proposed a productivity deal with their employers?
@ Caswell Franklyn | August 2, 2013 at 3:11 PM |
“Tell Bruggadown and the others, who think that Bajan workers are lazy, that they should try treating those workers fairly and they would see the vast improvement, and most likely it would not cost them significantly but their returns would more than compensate.”
But it needs to go further than this.
Not only Bruggadung but also COW and Kyffin Simpson must come to the obvious realization that if their corporate empires are to survive for the long haul (all of them heading fast to the other side of the ether) they cannot rely solely on their interbred offspring who would sell the inherited businesses for a song to Trinidadians of East Indian descent to maintain their hedonistic lifestyles and keep them permanently high on the white lady.
They must pay compensation by offering shares and beneficial interests to their black workers as a form of local reparations for their fore parents’ corporate sins.
This reaching out to blacks as part of the “White Christian” healing process must also be extended to those pseudo middle class blacks who feel ‘they have arrived’.
They should be offered the opportunities of investing in the remaining Bajan-owned corporate entities like SOL & COW and even in the Jada Group.
Instead of spending their disposable incomes on conspicuous consumption goods like additional large TVs, SUVs and mobile phones let them buy shares and other investment instruments in these corporate entities currently totally controlled by this small group practising corporate incest.
After this turn of events blacks will have no one but themselves to blame if people of East Indian, Middle Eastern and Chinese (Oriental) extract control the future economic landscape of Barbados leaving those ‘mis-educated’ blacks to continue to be just hooked consumers (à la BAFBFP) and corporate hewers of wood and drawers of water.
Hear!! Hear!! the majority blacks on the island cannot say they have not been warned……….i dare anyone of them to be talking the same crap 5 years from now when in 2013 they have been given the knowledge free of cost that this is the time to take majority control on the island of whatever wealth will be accumulated going forward from the various sectors that will be viable cash cows, and distribute it evenly among each other or as close as you can get, work hard for yourselves.
@Yagga
The man was a Top Notch Institutional Investment Consultant. He made more than the Bank Pres for years and eventually they tried to set him up as someone breaking Securities Law. It took the poor chap about 7yrs to clear his name and then win the Law Suit for compensation.
@Miller
“Local reparations for their fore parents Corporate sins”
So how does that apply to formerly poor whites that were also looked down on by the Plantocracy? ie my Dad went out to work at 13, leaving Combemere, because his parents had nuff plenty children to feed and required help to support them. So after working hard for others and then building his Business for 40yrs+ he woulda owe reparations too?
@ MoneyBrain | August 2, 2013 at 6:20 PM |
That is why poor whites in Bim need to bury their misplaced racial pride and be in the vanguard of demanding some form of reparations for the cruel and inhumane exploitation by those English who got very rich off the backs of the Bajan whites and whose descendants still occupy the seats of the House of Lords with their old wealth from sugar and the slave trade still largely in tact.
Don’t expect local blacks to do it. They don’t consider themselves to be the descendants of slaves but of the British aristocracy that not even you “real real” whites from Newcastle, Dublin, Scotland and Wales can claim heritage to.
millertheanunnaki | August 2, 2013 at 6:36 PM |
@ MoneyBrain | August 2, 2013 at 6:20 PM |
That is why poor whites in Bim need to bury their misplaced racial pride and be in the vanguard of demanding some form of reparations for the cruel and inhumane exploitation by those English who got very rich off the backs of the Bajan whites and whose descendants still occupy the seats of the House of Lords with their old wealth from sugar and the slave trade still largely in tact.
______________________________________
That’s the same thing i been telling Adrian, Incorrecto and any bajan white trying to run an agenda on here, time to stop riding the backs of the blacks on the island and acting like it’s black people did what ever was done by the british to your ‘white’ ancestors, it was the british whites who were the culprits practicing their Eugenics and ethnic cleansing on whites they deemed inferior to their grand master plan of controlling the world back then, ask the descendants of Australians whose ancestors were kicked out of England, also ask the descendants of the white Americans whose ancestors were also given the ethnic cleansing treatment by the British, black people had nothing to do with that, but i noticed bajan whites are hesitant to demand reparations from the british and i wonder why, riding on the backs of black people to enrich and accumulate wealth and then trying to blame them for every wrong done to their ancestors by the british, although blacks were the victims who suffered the greatest and the longest was certainly not going to last forever. Time to move on.
Mr Johnson may have a point whether we like him, his comment or not!
Unfortunately, based on his race, he doesn’t carry the credibility needed to make such a statement and as such, it is summarily rejected!
This region was built on the backs or the fore-parents of the very people he is now accusing of being lazy. Maybe its their time to be given what is RIGHTFULLY theirs. Well, i think they have a take it back and not ask for anything.
I’m in the process of building a house and this much I know. I will import every last drop of paint that I use on that project. He wont get a cent of mine!
But guh long Raphy, yuh doing well. One shot in the foot won’t cripple you, its the many shots from people like me that will have the desired effect!