We intended to use this space this week to review some of the comments that we received from our readers about the last two weeks' installments relative to the investment by the Chinese in The Bahamas. However, out of a sense of moral indignation that gnaws at the very fabric of our humanity, we have interrupted our plans to discuss a more urgent matter that we felt should immediately be brought to our readers' attention.
A new phenomenon has recently surfaced in The Bahamas which is extremely offensive and utterly despicable. Two prominent business houses have adopted the practice of "using" their employees as "human billboards" to proclaim the owners' objections to policies that have been established by the government.
Employees of New Oriental Laundry & Cleaners and Super Value Food Stores are required to wear T-shirts on their jobs that bear messages in opposition to the introduction of the impending value-added tax (VAT). Other shirts depict the message of getting and knowing the facts about VAT. Still, other T-shirts call on the government to be fiscally responsible in its management of public finances. We are reliably informed that the T-shirts are distributed by the companies and employees of those establishments are compelled to wear the T-shirts by their employers.
Therefore this week, we would like to Consider This... Are we witnessing the resurgence of new plantations in The Bahamas, and does this represent a retrograde and recalcitrant recurrence of highly improper business practices that were prevalent prior to majority rule in 1967?

Human billboards
Anyone who recently visited Super Value or New Oriental would have observed employees of those business houses wearing T-shirts that oppose the imminent introduction of VAT in January 2015.
We are reliably informed that New Oriental only requires their employees at the counter to wear their T-shirts. Employees working in the back office, out of sight of the public and who have no contact with customers, are not required to do so as are those who daily interface with their customers.
As of November 1, New Oriental also implemented a policy of requiring its patrons to pay in full for laundry services that are yet to be rendered. Not a partial payment or deposit, but payment in full. It has suggested that this is being done, in part, in anticipation of VAT.
Additionally, the owners of both establishments have astutely conveyed the subliminal message that the government should be blamed for introducing VAT and hence public ire should be directed against the government for doing so.
We are not for a minute suggesting that the owners of any business in The Bahamas do not have a fundamental right to oppose any government policy. That is a right of citizenship - individual, corporate or otherwise. Undoubtedly these two business houses have adequate financial resources to do so and can do so in an acceptably appropriate manner. But it cannot be right for those businesses to pressure their employees to "lobby" the public or to be compelled to put their employers' case to the Bahamian people.

Plantation mentality
We believe that this practice smacks of a new plantation mentality by those business houses, practices that represent a throwback to a pre-1967 majority rule era. The plantation mentality is characterized by a consciousness on the part of those business houses that results in intimidating their employees into wearing the owners' T-shirts. The employees are not allowed to express freedom of choice, particularly those who do not wish to be associated with the owners' campaign against the government.
There was a time in this country when members of the white oligarchy threatened the jobs of their employees if they either did not vote for them or did not conform to their business practices. In each case, those threats smacked of racism because they were directed predominantly at their black employees.

Consumer options
In the case of New Oriental, the public has the option of boycotting that establishment, but such action could have the unintended consequence of damaging the employment prospect of persons, again predominantly black Bahamians, who work there.
In the case of Super Value, however, since the owners of that establishment have a virtual monopoly on the distribution of food in The Bahamas, our choices are extremely limited.

Greed and avarice
Both business houses have demonstrated an unacceptable degree of greed and avarice in dealing with the public. The owners of Super Value have, on several occasions, caustically criticized the government for the latter's plan to introduce VAT. And that is certainly their right. But, given their immense wealth, and given their full understanding - probably more than most Bahamians - of the urgent need to enhance government revenue, the owners should understand the need for the increase in such revenue and should be educating their employees on the necessity for such increases.
Equally, the owners of New Oriental have also demonstrated a degree of avarice by compelling their dedicated patrons to prepay for laundry services.
Where does the DNA stand on this issue?
The principal owner of Super Value has publically announced his support for the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), which is certainly his right to do. However, the aforementioned business practices of the Super Value owner have placed the DNA in an unquestionably untenable position.
Does the DNA support the actions taken by Super Value? If it does, it should boldly profess its support. That way, we can all understand where that party's loyalties lie relative to the financial support it will likely receive from the owner of that mega-food store chain. If the DNA does not support Super Value's position, it should likewise vehemently condemn this practice in the interest of the public which it seeks to represent in government. This is a defining moment for the DNA.

Government action
urgently needed
We call on the government, and specifically the minister of labor, to insist that these business houses cease and desist from such offensive and despicable business practices. More importantly, we submit that there is an urgent need for legislation to be enacted to criminalize such business practices.

Conclusion
In the future, we will demonstrate how some of the Canadian banks in The Bahamas are also contributing to the resurgence of Bahamian plantations. In the meantime, Bahamians should repudiate the offensive and despicable practices of all businesses that seem eager to return us to a time that represented some of the most reprehensible realities of our repugnant past.
We should always be mindful that majority rule ushered in not only a change in government but it also marked the true start of individual freedom from the plantation mentality, a freedom that needs to be zealously guarded lest it slip away and return us to those bad old days.

o Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis and Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

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