The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

LABOUR Minister Shane Gibson yesterday criticised the Ministry of Finance for failing to honour its commitment to pay customs officers money agreed to by the Bahamas Customs and Immigration Allied Workers Union by the end of February.

Last month, Mr Gibson told Parliament that customs officers who applied to receive funds agreed upon by the Bahamas Customs and Immigration Allied Workers Union (BCIAWU) would be paid by voucher at the end of the month. After that, applicants would be paid monthly on the payroll, Mr Gibson said.

Yesterday, however, Mr Gibson claimed that despite Ministry of Finance officials committing to him in a previous meeting that the February 28 deadline would be honoured, he is now hearing “all sorts of excuses” as to why that deadline could not be met.

As it stands, Mr Gibson said he has been informed that the payments may be made by the end of this week.

“I don’t want to put any value on what they tell me, I want to wait until the money is paid,” he said of the ministry. “And so if they’re paid at the end of this week that’s fine. As I said it’s out of my hands, I did what I was supposed to do, I met with them, I did not make that announcement until I met with (the Ministry of) Finance. And so it’s disappointing to me that we would have an agreement to pay the end of this week, and then I hear all sorts of excuses as to why it couldn’t be done.

“I know that the process is tedious, I know that it is very intense, because you have to actually go and input these one at a time, unlike when you have an increase straight across the board when you could just apply across the board. I understand that. But my problem is they told me in a meeting that it would be paid, I announced that it would be paid and when it would be paid, and now they are telling me they are looking at a new date. And so that’s why I’m disappointed.”

When asked if he was concerned that news of the delayed payment may upset BCIAWU President Sloane Smith, Mr Gibson replied: “Mr Smith, no he is not in this equation.

“He had an opportunity to sign the industrial agreement, he didn’t sign it, he continued to waver, he has not contacted me. No matter what he tells you, he just loves the press. He just loves coming on television, so he’ll run down to you and talk to you every day, but he’ll never come and do what he’s supposed to do with the union members.

“And that’s why the members came directly to the government, because they were not receiving the benefits they should have received through the union.”

Last month, after receiving a petition signed by more than 130 customs officers who asked that they be paid money agreed to by the BCIAWU, Mr Gibson said he recommended that the officers be paid.

At the time, Mr Gibson said this was despite the union not concluding and signing an industrial agreement with the government.