Thursday, July 31, 2008

Is the HCU the local Enron? Click to read my column

To many- and depositors and employees primarily- the particularly enraging element of the much touted HCU asset profile is the way it became heavily weighted in favour of land and buildings, acquired at premium prices, which now fall to be disposed off in a fire sale. Equally enraging will be the fact that the lands and buildings were generally used to house “HCU Group” activity which had no real commercial value, so that these assets existed on the books with no income stream independent of the “Group”.

The danger of that type of “off the books” arrangement is twofold. First, those funds and the use of them did not benefit from the Commissioner’s oversight; were put out of the reach of depositors who wished to retrieve their deposits and were generally put into “investment” vehicles which, on their own, were incapable of producing reasonable returns and in any event were too illiquid to permit conversion into other types of investments. Under pressure in Jamaica, Cash Plus’ Carlos Hill declared in October 2006 that Cash Plus was not a financial institution, commercial bank, investment advisor or securities dealer and did not fall under the purview of any fiscal regulatory body (Jamaica Gleaner, October 2006).

Second, like Enron, it would have been difficult for any regulator to have sight of the HCU’s true liabilities, especially if, like Enron the assets were booked with the Credit Union and the liabilities were kept in the “special purpose vehicles” in the hope that at least one of them will strike a rich vein of gold and compensate for the liabilities held by the many others. Realistically, none of then seemed likely to do that and every concerned voice was answered by bold statements of success and orchestrated protests and marches.

Click link and read more in my Newsday column

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Urban renewal- What does it mean to employers? (Click here for Part 1 of Newsday column)

Every urban or now urban area in Trinidad has suffered from inadvertent development. Commercial areas were generally born out of residences, turned small shops, turned strip mall. Produce markets of the type seen in Tunapuna, Princes Town and Sangre Grande, have all spawned rectangles of development as nearby streets turned to cluttered shops, seeking to catch the market spill off. In an effort to capture the trade trapped in this concentrated activity around markets, some markets have tried to go upwards, like Chaguanas, with little success, mainly because there is something odd about a multi-storied market.

Click link above and read more

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Productivity and Collective Bargaining (click here for PowerPoint)

This is a presentation I made to senior staff at the Ministry of Labour. It is 40 slides (quite long but required in the circumstances) and sets out how the demands for productivity measurement and rewards can be accommodated in the existing IR structure, including the Collective Bargaining process.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Who keeps the hustlers in check? (Click to read as published in Express on 18 July 2008)

Just as I inched along in the gridlock and contemplated the set of circumstances which may have cost those two hikers their young lives, the highway vendor parked his cylindrical drinks cart in front of the car. My sudden stop caused a back-up right away. The vendor never budged and in the interest of keeping the flow I got around the cart. So did every vehicle behind me.

Click the link above and read more............

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Productivity: Why employers cannot reward based on increased output only (click here for video)

Now that we are moving towards the National Productivity Council, measuring and rewarding productivity is not a simple matter. Look at this video which helps introduce one of the challenges of measuring productivity increases.

Kinda boring...but worth your 10 minutes.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Obama, Jesse Jackson and that "N" word (click to read more)

The Rev. Jesse Jackson used the N-word during a break in a TV interview where he criticized presidential candidate Barack Obama, Fox News confirmed today. Previosly, Jackson had called on the entertainment industry, including rappers, actors and studios, to stop using the N-Word. He also urged the public to boycott purchasing DVD copies of the TV sitcom "Seinfeld" after co-star Michael Richards was taped using the word during a rant at a Los Angeles comedy club in 2006.

Friday, July 11, 2008

S&H_I&T HELPS (click here for more)

This is a presentation I made to 140 young persons at the Crowne Plaza on Wednesday 9 July 2008. Its the four factors for success in the world of work...S&H and I&T..it helps!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Global Road acccident Report for 2007 (click here for report)

Are you concerned about seatbelts, speed and quality of tyres? Road accidents are the number one cause of human injuries and deaths globally. There are 1.2 million deaths annually. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of deaths globally for those between 10 to 24 years of age. Injuries cost the world between 65 and 100 billion annually- more than all the development aid available.

Updated statistics on the Global impact of HIV/AIDS (click for Report)

Everyday 6800 persons become infected with HIV; everyday 5700 die. There were 2.1 million deaths in 2007 – 76% in sub- Saharan Africa. There were 2.5 million new infections in 2007 - 68% in sub-Saharan Africa . 230,000 were living with HIV/AIDS in Caribbean in 2007. There were 17,000 new infections in the Caribbean in 2007 and 11,000.deaths.

Commercial sex is the key risk factor in the epidemic in the region, especially DR and Haiti.


Sunday, July 6, 2008

Youth and Seniority in appointment of Commissioner

Given the time which passed between his nomination and the consideration by Parliament, the rejection of Stephen Williams comes as no surprise. It does however suggest some lessons to be learnt. I can well imagine that young persons are likely to believe that their youth will work against them in the job market, regardless of their competence, experience and qualifications. I could also expect that, given the acting recommendation made by the Police Service Commission and the disclosure that Williams is 26th in the “pecking order”, seniority, in any set of circumstances, has made an unexpected return to prominence.

What a pity if we ever allow people to believe that age – or youth- can create a disadvantage, when all other requirements are met or that, when process does not produce a desired outcome, then something must be wrong with the process. If that approach continues, then soon enough, more persons will join Shadow and Stephen Williams in singing “What’s wrong with me”.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Appointment or disappoinment of Commissioner of Police

It must come as a surprise to most people that there are concerns over the process used for nominating the new Commissioner of Police. After $2.2 million and the new procedure we are still a long way from what the Government seem to have wanted in the first place- a foreigner.

There is a clear case for the Police Service Commission to resign. They process was "flawed" and the nomination is "not acceptable".

If you want the background to the current process for selecting the Commissioner click the link and read the Constitution Amendment Act, 2006

Friday, July 4, 2008

Agreement on Working Time and Working conditions

My column on 3 July 2008 talked about the developments regarding the treatment of "temporary workers" in the UK. I referred to the EU Directive (for a summary of Directive click on link above) which was approved on 10 June 2008 and in my view sets the tone for what will be a global position on working time and temps.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Privy Council decision on Equal Opportunity Act, 2000

There is some ambiguity on the status of the Equal Opportunity Act and some people have asked about the impact of the EO Act on employers. The Act was found in the above Privy Council decision to be Constitutional (click on link to read Judgment and if you can't get it then cut and paste the link www.privy-council.org.uk/files/other/Suratt.rtf) and the Act has implications for employers which I will address in another post.

Equal Opportunity Act, 2000.

Click on link for a copy of the Equal Opportunity Act, 2000. If you are not linked then cut and paste the link in your browser www.ttparliament.org/bills/acts/2000/a2000-69.pdf