Worker participation in Barbados: contemporary practice and prospects

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of several factors on current participation practice and the willingness of employers to introduce participation at work. Data were obtained from a cross-section of 93 organisations, obtained from a stratified sample of 200 organisations from various industries in Barbados.

Organisational size, industrial origin and union presence were not significant determinants of current participation practice. However, a cost reduction strategy was negatively associated with current participation governing management of people. Innovation-based strategies were positively related to willingness to introduce participation regarding the management of people. Perceived participation outcomes such as job satisfaction, increased joint benefits and reduced absenteeism were associated with current participation regarding the management of people as well as willingness to extend participation in the same area.

Keywords:

• Barbados
• business strategy
• social dialogue
• union presence
• worker participation

Notes

1. The island has a population of just over one-quarter million persons and is 166 square miles.

2. There is a very rarely invoked 1939 Act that makes provision for arbitration of industrial disputes. Where conciliation fails to effect a resolution of disputes when they occur in critical sectors or industries, the Prime Minister intervenes to assist the parties find a solution to the impasse.

3. This point has been developed by Nurse (forthcoming) in ‘Inventing the Future: Whither Social Partnership in Barbados’.

4. The employers were drawn from commerce, manufacturing, banking and financial services, the tourism sector, construction, government services sector, agriculture/fisheries, public utilities and communications respectively.

5. Organisations employing up to 25 persons are classified as small by the Barbados Industrial Development Corporation. In this study, medium sized organisations are classified as employing above 25 and up to 100 persons. Organisations employing more than 100 persons are classified as large. This classification reflects generally the size of organisations in Barbados, and is dissimilar from that used to describe businesses in much larger and more industrially advanced countries.