The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

DAYS before the general election, more than 800 junior line staff at Bahamas Power and Light received a $3,500 lump-sum payment last week as part of a “cost of living supplement” included in their industrial agreement, according to union leader Kyle Wilson.

Mr Wilson, head of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union, told The Tribune yesterday that the payouts were in keeping with workers’ contracts and had been negotiated more than a year and a half ago.

“This is our contract. It has nothing to do with politics,” he said, “It just so happened that the election date is called within days of the schedule payments to be made.”

He said the payments come from BPL, and not the government through public funds.

The timing of the payouts has drawn increased scrutiny following the government’s decision to wipe electricity bills for residents in Grand Cay and Moore’s Island, a move the Davis administation framed as correcting longstanding billing inequities tied to the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Wilson accused critics of attempting to politicise a contractual matter.

He noted that the power company has made similar cost-of-living and lump-sum payments to employees in the past, stressing that the latest payout was neither unusual nor unprecedented.

“At this time of the year, everything is heightened,” he said.

“People would try to use things for political points, but this has nothing to do with politics and what shape or form whatsoever. It's strictly in house, a BPL company union related issue.

“I’m satisfied that the company was fair to the workers, and I'm satisfied that the union will also be fair to the company in delivering better service to the Bahamian people.”

He credited BPL’s management team with maintaining stable labour relations over the past several years, noting there had been no union demonstrations or matters escalated to the Labour Board during that period.

Under BPL CEO Toni Pratt’s leadership, he said, the company and union were able to reach what he described as an amicable agreement that balanced the interests of both workers and the company.