A TACTLESS APPROACH

Why did Prime Minister Patrick Manning think it necessary to publicly appeal to striking construction workers on the ALNG project at Pt Fortin to effect a compromise with main contractor, Bechtel International? Would it not have been better for the PM to have allowed Government conciliator in the dispute, Public Administration Minister, Dr Lenny Saith, to have broached the idea of compromise with worker representatives at a private meeting?  Why should Manning have deemed it necessary to have appealed privately to Bechtel, which he referred to as “the company,” to compromise on the issue of the workers’ demands for increased wages, yet make a direct appeal to the workers, and this at a public meeting?

In addition, the Prime Minister’s schoolmaster approach, “This strike has gone on long enough...,” sounding almost as that of a headteacher scolding errant pupils, while it may have impressed his entourage, was hardly conducive to nudging the workers toward the concession route. What is disturbing is that the Prime Minister’s appeal was made about the same time that the principal representative of the striking workers, Ernest Thompson, along with OWTU representatives, had been reportedly involved in discussions with Dr Saith aimed at finding a solution to the industrial dispute. As a result, Manning’s tactless approach to the highly sensitive issue can result, however unintentionally, in the striking workers becoming even more determined.

In turn, what is even more confusing is that Manning’s seeming parallel conciliation strategy, that of compromise rather than a call for a mutual reappraisal by Bechtel International and workers’ representatives of conflicting wage and benefits positions, was done in the presence of Cabinet’s principal adviser on labour matters, Labour Minister Anthony Roberts. Did the Prime Minister’s strategy result from a Cabinet Note from Roberts on the industrial dispute and full discussion by Cabinet of the Note, or did Manning act on a ‘vaps’?

Why did Manning not allow Labour Minister Roberts to use the opportunity to create a profile? Roberts succeeded MP for Pt Fortin, Larry Achong, who resigned recently as Minister of Labour over the non implementation of a pre-election promise to introduce a Sectoral Minimum Wage. This was Roberts’ first face to face on the site meeting with striking Bechtel workers, and instead of the new Minister of Labour taking centre stage with the Prime Minister, that honour went interestingly enough to Achong, who was there exchanging warm handshakes with the PM and pleasantries as well.