Both Sides of The Coin: The Story of The Central Bank of Barbados 1972-2017

158 staff complement expanded by an annual average of just over 57 per cent. By the end of 1975, Banking and Currency and the Secretariat, with 23 and 21 staff members respectively, accounted for almost half of the staff. During the decade after 1975, the staff complement expanded from 92 to 191 with the biggest increases occurring in 1979, 1980 and 1981. The increase in 1979 was more evenly spread across the Bank, while the establishment of the MIS Department and an expansion in the number of security officers accounted for the majority of recruitments during 1980. In 1981, the Secretariat and the Exchange Control Department absorbed most of the new staff members. Between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s, the establishment did not increase at all. By this time the Bank had settled into its new headquarters and no additional departments were created during the period. However, from 1994 there was a steady rise in the number of staff, with the total peaking at 287 in 2003 before declining to around 280 thereafter. The majority of these recruits were economists (for Research, later Research and Economic Analysis), examiners (for Bank Supervision), analysts/programmers (for MIS) and security officers (for the Secretariat, later Facilities Management). The Staff Association Formation A natural by-product of the increase in the number of staff was the higher level of interest in workers' rights, terms and conditions of employment as well as social and sporting activities and amenities. The first evidence of any attempt to unionise the staff came late in 1974 in the form of a letter from the Barbados Workers' Union (BWU) claiming that it represented 31 staff members and asking for recognition. The Bank requested additional details on the categories of workers in question but it does not appear that the claim for recognition made any headway. Nonetheless, the idea that the Bank would soon have to deal with a union started to influence its attitude towards the staff. Around this time