Mission                 

To be an excellent trade union provider of labour market services in Barbados and the Caribbean and to improve the quality of life of all Barbadians through participatory representation.

Motto                 

Unity is Strength, where there is no vision the people perish.

History                 

The Barbados Workers’ Union is a general workers union and was registered on 4th October  1941. It has a membership of 25,000 persons covering all areas of employment in Barbados: Members are represented in Agriculture, Tourism and Restaurant Services, Transport (Road, Sea and Air), Government and Statutory Boards, Banking and Insurance, Manufacturing and Industry, Construction, Commerce and General Services.

The Barbados Workers’ Union has strong international links and is affiliated to the following International Trade Secretariats:

	Union Network International
	International Federation of Building and Wood Workers
	International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations
	International Transport Workers’ Federation

The Barbados Workers’ Union also has close fraternal links with the following National and International Organisations:

	International Labour Organisation
	International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
	Inter-American Regional Organisation of Workers
	American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations
	Canadian Labour Congress
	British Trades Union Congress
	Commonwealth Trade Union Council
	Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation

 The Barbados Workers’ Union is affiliated to the Caribbean Congress of Labour  (CCL), which is headquartered in Trinidad & Tobago and is a member of The Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB), which has its registered offices at “Solidarity House”, Harmony Hall, St. Michael.

The union is governed by an Executive Council which is elected annually at an Annual Delegates’ Conference which is held in the month of August. The day to day administration is in the hands of the General Secretary who is a member of the Executive Council (the General Secretary has the right to speak at meetings of the council but he cannot vote).

The union consists of the following departments:

	Industrial Relations
	Finance and Administration
	Education
	Public Relations and Communications
	Counseling and Wellness
	The union has a staff of fifty persons including staff attached to the Labour College.

Objects            

The objects of the union are set out at Rule 2 of the Rules and Regulations of the Union and include:

	To secure the complete organisation in the union of all workers employed in all the trades, industries, and occupations in the island.
	To obtain and maintain just wages, reasonable working hours, holidays and other conditions of employment, and generally to protect the interests of its members.
	To secure legislation which will safeguard and improve the economic security and social welfare of workers, protect and extend our democratic institutions and civil rights and liberties
	Generally to promote the material, social and educational welfare of the members in any lawful manner in which the Annual Conference may from time to time deem expedient.

Services                  

The services offered by the union include:

	Grievance Handling
	Negotiations
	Protection and defense at the workplace including dismissals
	Access to Medicare Schemes
	Access to Pension Rights
	Access to Credit Unions
	Access to Labour Education
	Guidance in time of lay-off
	Guidance in times of severance
	Assistance in gaining promotions and job enhancement
	Lobbying government in support of workers’ interests.
	General counseling services

Achievements                  

Some of the Achievements of the Union are:

	Holidays with pay
	Maternity leave
	Severance pay
	National Insurance and Social Security
	Protection of  wages
	Unemployment Insurance
	Protocol on job security
	Housing Development at Mangrove, St Philip

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