THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) congratulates the Government and the people of Barbados on the occasion of the country’s 49th anniversary of Independence.
For those of us who were alive in the years leading up to November 30, 1966, the historic date when Barbados attained its political Independence from Britain, it seems like only yesterday when the opposing parties, speaking from their platforms, were filling the night air with their views as to whether Barbados should go it alone, or seek Independence as part of the “Little Eight” grouping.
In the ensuing years, the voices of the leaders in the Independence struggle have been hushed, chief among whom were the leader of the Democratic Labour Party and former Premier and Prime Minister Errol Walton Barrow, now Rt. Excellent; Ernest Deighton Mottley, and Jack Dear, who led the Opposition forces.
Gone too, is former BWU general secretary Frank Walcott, now Rt. Excellent, who stoutly defended the Barrow Government, as well as some members of the Under-40s, young BLP cohorts and the underprivileged, who supported the Government of the day.
The BWU was forthright in its support for Barbados’ move to sovereignty during the heated national debates on the question.
And in the past 49 years, the BWU has been pleased to be counted among those national institutions which have been solidly in the forefront of promoting initiatives whose aims have been to develop Barbados and to place it among those nations which seek to uphold the noble traditions of respect for the democratic rights of all citizens.
In the words of the Rt. Excellent Sir Frank Leslie Walcott, who served as general secretary of the BWU from 1948 to 1991: “The BWU was never in doubt that Independence was a natural and logical constitutional decision to be taken if the island was to achieve rapid social and economic progress.”
Writing in his weekly column The Union Speaks, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Independence in 1971, Sir Frank stated: “Barbados’ decision to take the bold step showed that political Independence is not predicated on the basis of size, but on the willingness of the people to accept the responsibility of running their own affairs.”
As we approach the 50th anniversary of our Independence, there can be no denying that Barbados, under successive DLP and BLP Governments, has made significant strides in almost every sphere of human endeavour.
Over the past four decades, the economy has been hurt by the international economic turmoil, for example, the current economic recession, the consequences of which have been negative growth and cuts in Government spending, layoffs and unemployment, in both the public and private sectors.
The consequential economic industrial relations challenges have been exacerbated by poor labour management decisions by some public sector organisations and private sector concerns which, in turn, have resulted in protests by the trade union movement.
This is a time when we should become more introspective and start a rethink of where the country is heading. Economic growth seems elusive and there is moral decline.
Particularly as it relates to the latter, in spite of our successes over the past 49 years, Barbados seems to have entered a new phase where a faction of our youth is behaving out of character and engaging in activities which contrast strikingly to the precepts of the founding fathers, whose every efforts were aimed at building the country they loved.
As we march closer to the historic landmark of 50 years of nationhood, we suggest that every Barbadian citizen, born or adopted, should ponder if we, as individuals and as a community, have been living up to the noble ideals of our founding fathers.
As citizens, we seriously must consider how well, if at all, we have been able to accept the responsibility of running our own affairs.
If the country has prospered, each of us must ask ourselves what could we have done to make life even better and, if we have been unable to meet our expectations, we must ask ourselves what role we could have played to improve our circumstances.
This period should be one of serious reflection in which we take the high ground and soberly ask ourselves if Barbados is where it should be at.
Our checklist should seek, among other things, critically to analyse the quality of our governance at the levels of our Government and the other social partners – the private sector, the trade unions and the church.
