The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Union leaders say labour relations at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) are not beyond repair provided management treats the workers with “respect”.

Bernard Evans, the National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas (NCTUB) president, told Tribune Business that the relationship between the carrier and the two unions representing its workers “can be repaired” if management and its owners alter their approach.

“Can it come back? Of course,” he said. “I think they can be repaired only if management comes to learn and understand the workers at BTC are represented by the unions, and that there are polices and procedures that take effect, and they should follow them.

“The management must come to the table with the union with respect, and respect the union and the workers, and that the union is the sole bargaining agent for the workers. They have to show the workers respect.”

Dino Rolle, who succeeded Mr Evans as president of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), the BTC line staff representative, also indicated that workforce relations are not beyond the point of no return.

“I am an optimist. As a leader I must always be hopeful of positive outcomes and work towards it,” he told Tribune Business in a recent message that came after the union filed a trade dispute with the Department of Labour over the proposed voluntary separation packages (VSEPs) that BTC is preparing to offer.

The BCPOU is alleging that BTC failed to properly engage and negotiate with it over the VSEP terms, something it claims is required by their industrial agreement. However, Garfield ‘Garry’ Sinclair, BTC’s chief executive, says there is a financial cost beyond which the company cannot go.

The VSEP dispute followed quickly behind the controversy created by Balan Nair, chief executive of Liberty Latin America, BTC’s ultimate parent, when a video went viral of remarks he made questioning the productivity and work ethic of Bahamian employees in comparison to their Jamaican counterparts.

Mr Nair subsequently apologised for any offence caused, but Mr Sinclair then delivered a blunt message that the the tactics of both the BCPOU and its management union counterpart could be “fatal” to BTC’s competitiveness and long-term survival.

Mr Sinclair, in a recent Tribune Business interview, had urged BTC’s two unions to move beyond past habits that involve agitation, industrial action and dissent if - particularly if they are unable to get their own way.

He argued that such “ancient” practices, more suited to the pre-2011 monopoly environment, were no longer fit for purpose in a fast-moving, rapidly evolving industry were non-unionised rivals were able to move much faster in adapting to changing consumer demand.

However, Mr Evans argued: “It’s the system of Cable & Wireless Communications (BTC’s immediate parent) that needs to change; the way they do business and interact with worker representatives had proven to be very difficult, and not just in The Bahamas.

“I think the nation would agree it’s the worst it’s ever been, the labour relations issue at BTC. BTC had a culture, a life. Now there’s no life at BTC; they’ve sucked it out. This is not about those who remain at BTC, this is about correcting a wrong and doing better for us and future generations.”

Mr Evans argued that persons are “complaining that BTC’s service is worse than it’s ever been” because it had outsourced BTC’s engineers, technicians and installers to become independent contractors who were no longer entitled to the benefits granted to full-time staff

Pledging that the NCTUB stood “100 percent” behind its BCPOU affiliate, Mr Evans said CWC was not even initially considered as a partner for BTC when he sat on the privatisation advisory committee that was formed under the last Ingraham administration.

CWC ultimately came back into the picture after all bids submitted were either rejected or unable to reach an agreement satisfactory to the Government, but Mr Evans said he was not criticising the then-administration given that its key players had subsequently expressed unhappiness with the post-privatisation performance.

The NCTUB leader reiterated his call for The Bahamas to retake Board and management control at BTC, but conceded that CWC and Liberty Latin America could not be forced to sell their 49 percent equity stake by any renationalisation.