Bahamas

Organization responsible for the statistics

The statistics are collected by the Labour Department.

Objectives and users

Not available.

Coverage

Strikes and lockouts

The statistics cover: Political or protest strikes are not covered by the statistics, nor are working to rule, go-slows, overtime bans or sit-ins.

No information is available concerning general strikes, work stoppages initiated by employers, sympathetic strikes, rotating or revolving strikes.

Minimum threshold: None.

Economic activities

No particular branches of economic activity or sectors are excluded.

Workers

Workers directly involved only. The data refer to regular paid employees, including part-time workers, and also cover temporary, casual and seasonal workers. Unpaid family workers, workers laid off and workers absent on sick or annual leave or absent for any other reason are not included.

No particular occupational groups are excluded.

Geographic areas

Whole country.

Types of data collected

Concepts and definitions

Strike

The cessation of work by a body of persons employed, acting in combination, or a concerted refusal under a common understanding of any number of persons employed to continue to work for an employer in consequence of a trade dispute, done as a means of compelling their employer or any person or body of persons employed, or aiding other employees in compelling their employer or any person or body of persons employed, to accept or not to accept terms or conditions of or affecting employment.

Lockout

The closing of a place of employment, or the suspension of work, or the refusal by an employer to continue to employ any number of persons employed by him in consequence of a trade dispute, done with a view to compelling those persons, or to aiding another employer in compelling persons employed by that other employer, to accept terms or conditions of or affecting employment.

The definitions come from the Industrial Relations Act.

Methods of measurement

Strikes and lockouts

The basic unit of measurement used to record a strike is the case of dispute, but each occurrence at a different time or in a different economic unit is registered separately.

A strike interrupted but later resumed, still due to the same case of dispute, is counted as a new strike.

Work stoppages arising from the same case of dispute, occurring in different establishments either at the same time or at different times, are counted separately at the different establishments involved, and for each occurrence.

Workers involved

The number of workers involved is the maximum number of workers that took part during the course of the stoppage, even if some workers participated for only part of the duration.

Part-time workers are counted as individuals on the same basis as full-time workers.

Duration

The duration is measured in terms of workdays from the date the action began to the date it terminated in the unit involved.

Time not worked

Total time not worked is measured in terms of workdays by ascertaining the total amount of time not worked by each striker and summing these totals. The shorter working hours of part-time workers are not taken into account, nor is overtime.

Classifications

None.

Reference period and periodicity

The statistics are compiled for periods of a year. They refer to strikes taking place during any one calendar year.

Analytical measures

None.

Historical background of the series

Not available.

Documentation

Series available

Not available.

Bibliographic references

None.

Data published by the ILO

The number of strikes and lockouts, the number of workers involved and the number of days not worked, for all activities together only.

Confidentiality

Not available.

International standards

Not available.

Methods of data collection

There is no legal obligation to report the occurrence of a strike. Strikes are usually preceeded by a strike vote supervised by the Labour Department. The Labour Department is thus alerted to the possibility of an impending strike. As a result, the situation is monitored carefully.