by Harry Mayers

SIR ROY TROTMAN IS placing us in an awkward situation. He will no doubt repudiate this assertion and point his accusing finger at the Royal Shop and Sandy Lane Hotel and blame them for the situation that has prompted his powerful Barbados Workers' Union
to threaten an island-wide shutdown on Wednesday.

Shutdown? The concept seems so foreign to a country whose record of industrial peace and stability has been our proud boast, that one would have been tempted to regard this threat as an outrageous prank, had we not known of the serious-mindedness of Sir Roy.

This respected unionist has used the word "reprehensible" to describe the behaviour of the two companies that have found
it necessary, in separate and different scenarios, to terminate a total of 30 workers.

At the time of writing this note, I had no information to convince me that a shutdown is absolutely necessary. It sounds rather extreme. But Sir Roy obviously feels he has good reason to risk hobbling the island's services, smudging its image and injuring industrial relations.

These are things that take money and time to build up, and much more money, effort and time to restore.

The hope of right-thinking Barbadians must be that the BWU and the employers concerned would focus on finding a solution
that would obviate any temptation to play stubborn or to flex muscles.

There may very well be deep underlying problems which have caused the Royal Shop and Sandy Lane issues to surface. That's
all the more reason why management and labour must show a great measure of maturity.