Belinda Wilson, the new president of the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT), obviously intends to be a more aggressive president than her predecessor. Hopefully, this does not mean that she will join the cadre of union leaders in this country who more often than not do not consider the consequences of their irresponsible actions when their sabre-rattling does not produce the results they anticipated.

In Grand Bahama earlier this week, however, she made some very positive announcements that strongly indicated that she intends to be a responsible union leader. Although she was elected president of the BUT back in June, over the summer she had been relatively quiet, no doubt primarily because schools were closed and there were no pressing issues related to the 4,000-plus teachers who are members of the BUT that needed to be addressed. With the new school year about to start next week – in fact, for teachers it started this past Monday – Wilson was very vocal this week on what her plans are for the union.

The approximately 600 teachers in Grand Bahama were no doubt pleased to hear of Wilson's plan to construct a new multi-purpose facility in Grand Bahama that will house the union's offices as well as a hall for teachers. The second phase will include an area that the community can utilize as a library or a computer centre.

Teachers most certainly were also pleased to hear about her plans to introduce a pension plan for BUT members that will create security for them in their retirement years. As she explained, the plan will be fully paid for by the BUT, which will set aside an amount for each member. It will take effect on January 1, 2009, and members can either get a lump sum when they retire or they can get it as a monthly payment after they would have retired.

The BUT is to be congratulated for such a commendable initiative. Aside froim providing some degree of financial security for a group of individuals who are the most underpaid professionals in the country, Wilson is setting an example that more of our union leaders in this country should follow.

Most certainly, the officers of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) should urgently place a call to Belinda Wilson and request that she advise them on how they can establish such a plan for their members. We long ago suggested that the BHCAWU put aside a portion of the mandatory $10 per week dues that it deducts from the salaries of its estimated 7,000 members to assist those members who lose their jobs and fall on financial hard times.

Had such a plan been in place when the Royal Oasis Resort and Casino closed in Grand Bahama becaiuse of damage caused by back-to-back hurricanes in 2004, putting some 1,200 BHCAWU members out of work, funds would have been available to assist them when many of them found it difficult to meet their financial obligations. However, they found themselves no longer members of the union after they had not paid their dues for three consecutive months, which was not their fault, given the fact that dues were automatically deducted from their salaries, under an agency shop provision in a labour law passed in 1979.

It is not too late for the BHCAWU to get its act together and start planning to give something back to its members, using the BUT's pension plan as a guideline for establishing its own initiative. If necessary they should give Belinda Wilson a call and ask for her advice on how to put such a plan in place.