Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados

National trade union of Barbados

Barbados

Members

20,110 (2007)

Key people

Edwin O’Neal (President)

The Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados is a national trade union centre.

Origins

The CTUSAB has its origins in the emergence of protests against the Barbados government's acceptance of an IMF/World Bank structural adjustment programme in the early 1990s. The proposed programme included the devaluation of the Barbadian dollar, cuts to welfare, public services and public salaries, public sector job cuts, increases in taxes and privatisations.^[1] In response, an umbrella organisation called the Coalition of Trade Unions and Staff Associations was formed in September 1991 by the country's two largest unions, the Barbados Workers' Union and the National Union of Public Workers. This structure was renamed the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados in August 1993 to unify the labour movement response to the worsening economic conditions of the period.^[2] Joining with business groups and other civil society organisations, the CTUSAB negotiated a protocol with the government which lessened the impacts of the structural adjustment programme and decreased social conflict.^[3] Business leader John Goddard termed the first protocol "remarkably successful in terms of changing the mood in the country and fostering dialogue."^[4]

Affiliates

Affiliated unions include: the National Union of Public Workers, Barbados Workers' Union, Barbados Secondary Teachers Union, Barbados Union of Teachers, Barbados Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools, Police Association, Prison Officers, Fire Officers Association, Barbados Registered Nurses Association and the Sugar Industry Supervisors Association.

Presidents

1995: Roy Trotman

2010: Cedric H. Murrell

References

^ Greaves, Evelyn (2000). "Social dialogue in selected countries in the Caribbean: An overview". In Ozaki, Muneto; Rueda-Catry, Marleen (eds.). Trade unions and social dialogue: Current situation and outlook (PDF). Geneva: International Labour Organization. p. 35.
^ Hinds, Kristina (14 December 2018). Civil Society Organisations, Governance and the Caribbean Community. Springer. p. 105. ISBN 978-3-030-04396-4.
^ Ratnam, Venkata; Tomoda, Shizue (2005). Practical Guide for Strengthening Social Dialogue in Public Service Reform (PDF). International Labour Organization. pp. 24–26. ISBN 92-2-116843-3.
^ Goddard, John (December 2004). "Reflections on the Barbados Protocols". Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies. 29 (4): 98. ProQuest 216620324.