The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Electrical Workers Union president Kyle Wilson yesterday stopped an employee from explaining a 90-hour Christmas overtime record at Bahamas Power and Light, as he accused  executive chairman Christina Alston of trying to make workers “whipping boys” for what he described as leadership failures at the company.

He insisted workers should not have to defend payments that passed through multiple levels of management approval.

Shop steward Wellington Porter, put on a week-long suspension for alleged gross misconduct, had begun attributing the extraordinary hours worked over Christmas to overlapping fuel operations involving an ocean tanker, coastal tankers and continuing fuel transfers when union president Kyle Wilson interrupted him.

“It was authorised and paid by multiple managers, including Mr Davis, the director for energy supply,” Mr Wilson said.

When Mr Porter was pressed for further clarity about the 90 hours, Mr Wilson stopped him again.

“Porter, it’s not your job to defend your job. Stop defending your job,” Mr Wilson said. “Let them say you are a criminal.”

The records obtained by The Tribune do not identify Mr Porter as the employee who recorded the 90 hours over four consecutive days during Christmas week. He was questioned about the entry during yesterday’s press conference as the union defended workers caught up in scrutiny of BPL’s overtime practices.

The exchange came as the union condemned BPL’s week-long suspension of Mr Porter, saying neither his suspension letter nor company officials explained the allegation or identified who was conducting the investigation.

“They can’t tell us who’s doing this investigation or what is going on with this investigation,” Mr Wilson said outside BPL headquarters after union executives met company officials.

“To me, this is all a corrupt deal,” he said, accusing BPL executive chairman Christina Alston of trying to make the union and workers “whipping boys” for what he described as leadership failures at the company.

Mr Wilson said union executives met BPL chief executive officer Toni Seymour, who issued Mr Porter with the suspension letter. Mr Porter said he had been ordered to attend the meeting to receive it.

Neither BPL nor the union disclosed what conduct was under investigation, although much of yesterday’s press conference focused on Mr Porter’s overtime. It was also unclear whether his suspension was with or without pay. Privately, sources confirmed to The Tribune that the suspension was related to the overtime issue.

The suspension comes amid intense scrutiny of BPL’s overtime practices after internal records obtained by The Tribune showed that three employees in the Fuel and Performance Department received a combined $601,295.16 in overtime between May 2025 and April 2026.

Two employees received more than $200,000 each, while individual monthly overtime payments exceeded $20,000. One record showed an employee recorded as working 90 hours over four consecutive days during Christmas week.

The findings prompted BPL’s board to tighten overtime controls. The union subsequently instructed members to work only their normal hours, alleging the new policy had not been discussed with or shown to it and breached its industrial agreement.

The government previously described BPL’s annual overtime bill, which was approaching $20m, as unsustainable and said a review had identified unusual patterns and anomalies.

It said the new controls were not intended to prevent legitimate overtime or deny employees compensation, but to ensure the work was necessary, properly authorised and fully documented. It also said action would be taken against any employee, manager or director found responsible for wrongdoing, negligence or failed oversight.

Mr Wilson yesterday called the focus on overtime and the action against Mr Porter a “red herring”, alleging workers were being used to divert attention from BPL’s operational and leadership problems.

He further claimed the controversy was intended to provoke the union into taking action that could then be blamed for electricity disruptions.

Mr Wilson insisted employees could not receive overtime payments without management approval and called on Director of Energy Supply Jeffrey Davis and other senior officials to explain their roles in the process.

“So if we are the crooks, then they are the getaway drivers, all in the same boat,” Mr Wilson said. “Why is Mr Porter and others being made whipping boys for the malfeasance taking place here?”

“He didn’t benefit from any scheme. He worked his hours,” Mr Wilson said of Mr Porter.

He said overtime payments passed through three to five levels of approval before reaching an employee and argued that any investigation into alleged malfeasance should extend to officials at the directorship level.

To date, BPL officials have not responded to The Tribune’s repeated requests for information about why the overtime was approved and by whom.

Mr Porter said his work in Fuel Performance and Special Projects involved receiving fuel, transferring fuel from Clifton Pier to Blue Hills and dealing with ocean and Family Island tankers.

He said overlapping operations could continue for several days, particularly when workers had to manage tanker deliveries while transferring fuel elsewhere.

Mr Porter also alleged that he previously asked Mr Davis whether he should stop transferring fuel because of management concerns about long hours and overtime.

According to Mr Porter, Mr Davis told him he could not stop and had to continue pumping. Mr Porter said he asked for the instruction in writing, but Mr Davis declined.

Mr Wilson also called on BPL chief operating officer Anthony Christie to address the controversy, saying Mr Christie previously managed the department and would have been familiar with its operations and overtime practices.

The union president criticised Prime Minister Philip Davis’s national address on Monday, saying it failed to address what he alleged were continuing data breaches at BPL and across the government sector.

Mr Wilson said the Prime Minister had previously raised overtime concerns with him privately and that he had offered to help the government reduce the payments. He said he made a similar offer to Economic Affairs Minister Jerome Fitzgerald and invited him to tour the power plant to examine how operations could be streamlined.

Mr Wilson also called for independent auditors to investigate his allegation that third-party contractors had received duplicate payments from BPL, saying the matter had been reported to the company’s auditing department.

He did not identify the contractors, amounts or transactions involved.

Mr Wilson further alleged that Mr Porter had signed a document as a witness in a bribery matter and that people named in the document were subsequently targeted.

He did not identify who allegedly offered or received a bribe, when the matter was reported or the status of any investigation. No documents supporting the allegations were presented during the press conference.

Mr Wilson did not announce industrial action, saying the union preferred to use the Department of Labour, the courts and conciliation to resolve disputes.

BEWU previously filed a formal trade dispute over the overtime policy. Although Mr Wilson denied that the union would deliberately disrupt electricity supplies, he did not rule out mobilising members if BPL continued to refuse negotiations.

BPL was contacted for responses concerning the reason for Mr Porter’s suspension, the management officials who authorised the disputed overtime and the union’s allegations of retaliation. No response was received up to press time.