'Revolutionary agreement'
It’s not every day that you see an employer celebrating after its staff have achieved union recognition.But that’s what happened this week when the Corporation of Hamilton signed a collective bargaining agreement with the Bermuda Public Service Union, which will now be the bargaining agent for the Corporation’s managers. The BPSU has been the bargaining agent for the Civil Service, including its senior managers, for decades, and on the whole the relationship has been less fractious than between the Government and the Bermuda Industrial Union, which represents the blue collar workers of the Government, and the Corporation, as it happens.So it might be thought that given that history, the Corporation would be comfortable with this arrangement, especially as some of the current members, notably Hotel Employers of Bermuda official and Common Councillor John Harvey, have wide experience with labour negotiations and dealing with unions.But that’s not what makes the agreement revolutionary. What does is its direct tie-in into the Code of Conduct for the elected officials of the Corporation, which restricts them from interfering in the day to day management of the Corporation.This means that the elected officials of the Corporation make decisions and policies, and it is up to the managers and staff of the Corporation to implement them. That’s as it should be, and it’s how, incidentally, it is supposed to work in Government, but too often does not.Nor is how it worked in the Corporation of Hamilton prior to the current administration of Mayor Charles Gosling. And that interference by elected officials in the day to day workings of the Corporation caused a good deal of confusion.So this is an important step. Why does the union’s involvement matter? Because now managers who feel they are being interfered with or improperly influenced can seek union representation. This gives the employee a sense of security and means that the union can represent the managers, allowing them to get on with their duties without looking over their shoulders.In the absence of making the code of conduct legally enforceable, this gives the managers some security. However, this should not mean that managers are somehow unaccountable. They remain employees of the Corporation, and if they fail to carry out the policies of the elected Corporation, then they must be held accountable.This will put a good deal of pressure on the Secretary of the Corporation to ensure that policies and decisions are carried out. This move marks another accomplishment for Mr Gosling and his team. When they took office as a unified ticket, the Corporation was at a low ebb. But the current Corporation has improved morale, increased transparency markedly, made the City more accessible, and done all of this in an economic period when it has faced falling tax revenues.This year, the Corporation will be elected under a new franchise made up of resident parliamentary voters instead of the old property-based franchise. The new voters could do a lot worse, and will be hard pressed to do better, than to elect a Corporation with the kind of reforming record of the Gosling team.