General Secretary of the Barbados Workers Union (BWU) Toni Moore.
General Secretary of the Barbados Workers Union (BWU), Toni Moore, believes that many persons, including the youth, do not appreciate how their individual value adds to the importance of trade unions.
“I am not satisfied that people understand their power, because the power is not at the level of the secretariat and staff here but our power is derived from the members that we have here. The only strength and real power that the labour movement has is the workers and the workers committing to come together; surrendering at times their own selves and their own wants for the broader good,” she said.
At the BWU’s Solidarity House on Thursday morning during a media conference, Moore stated that workers did not have the influence of capital or the influence of government, except at the polls, or through the secretariat during the social partnership exercise, and so it was critical for these employees, especially the younger ones, to understand the power of their voice through the union.
“So the workers by and large have to understand; that is one of our areas of focus – to ensure that we reeducate our workers – the generation Xs, generation Ys and generation Zs, in particular. The baby boomers understand trade unions and the power of unity, but the younger generation is who we need to connect to, so one of our objectives is to go to the younger people and find out what they want. We are not satisfied that we are going to be doing what we think is in their interest we need to hear from our young people,” she insisted.
Noting that a number of young people had joined the union’s ranks, she still expressed doubt that they fully understood “the strength that exists and lies with them.” (JMB)
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