The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net UNION representatives for customs and immigration officer did not show up for a scheduled meeting with Labour Minister Dion Foulkes yesterday. Sloane Smith, vice-president of the Bahamas Customs, Immigration and Allied Workers Union, said meeting would not have served any purpose and might have even been counterproductive. "It would have defeated the ultimate goal, which is to resolve all the issues. Nothing would have come from it. "Quite frankly, the persons he requested to attend the meeting, the union controller and the immigration director, could not help us. "In fact, the union met with them in October, November and December of last year and they told us they could not address all our issues and the ones they could, they could only do it in part," he said. "They don't have answers for us, we only want to meet with people who can make decisions as it relates to the shift system and the health and safety of our workers. "If the government was serious about fixing these issues, they do not have to meet with us to do so. "It is their responsibility to correctly and appropriately address all the issues laid out in the trade dispute." Mr Smith said the public would have to "wait and see" what the union's next move will be. Last month, Trade Union Congress (TUC) president Obie Ferguson confirmed that Mr Foulkes had scheduled a meeting to discuss contract negotiations for January 10, but he said the minister had acted arbitrarily, as the 16-day statutory period to resolve a dispute had already passed. A strike vote was passed by union members on December 2, 2011. In an earlier interview, Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette said union officials seem to be unwilling to negotiate. Mr Symonette, who has ministerial responsibility for both departments, explained that during the last conciliatory meeting, the union gave the impression it was only interested in obtaining a strike certificate. "The role of labour is reconciliation. I trust in the new year, union officials will meet again with the department in an attempt to discuss issues," he said. Among the employees' concerns are: that staff members are not getting hazard pay; that staff are not being confirmed after years of probation without any credible reason; and that employees are repeatedly being disciplined for lateness although contracts state this should not occur more than four times a month.