The Tribune

By CELESTE NIXON Tribune Staff Reporter cnixon@tribunemedia.net BEC unions have threatened to take industrial action over the suspension of managerial union president Irvin Dean. Threatening the country's power supply by refusing to work if matters were not resolved by 4:30pm yesterday, vice-president of the Bahamas Electrical Utilities Management Union (BEUMU) Clinton Minnis said all managers have been put on notice that work will stop if there is not a response from BEC management. The union is requesting Mr Dean's suspension letter be rescinded and he be allowed to return to work immediately. He said: "All we have to do is make a phone call and if we don't get the right reaction before the day is out as vice president of the union I have already put every manager on notice, work will stop and things will happen. "We have got an overwhelming response from the junior union of this corporation - if we don't get action immediately it is going to be hot up in here, we ain playing and we ain never scared." Mr Minnis' comments came yesterday during a press conference outside of BEC's headquarters. According to Mr Minnis, Mr Dean was suspended following repeated attempts by him to inquire about the termination of a former BEC manager, Adrian Cargill. He said the corporation had refused to respond to the termination of an employee of over 34 years and did not inform the union of Mr Dean's suspension. "We think this is unfair, it is anti-union and we are presently withdrawing all industrial goodwill that we had concerning the corporation," he said. Supporting the action, president of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union Stefano Greene said Mr Dean has been suspended wrongfully and is owed an apology by BEC. "We would like to let the public know we are in 1000 per cent support of Mr Irvin Dean and the situation here at BEC," he said. On the heels of the Labour Day holiday, Mr Minnis said this is a test and they are appealing to the new government "who have the interest of labour at hand" to deal with the matter swiftly. In a press statement released by BEC yesterday, the corporation stated they will not comment on human resources matters. However, according to BEC sources up until press time no employees had walked off the job. BEC does have a contingency plan in place if industrial action is taken, but it can only do so much said the source. The BEC statement said: "As with any employee related matter, BEC encourages the BEUMU to employ all legitimate and legal recourse afforded to them through the industrial agreement and the laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. "Although there are instances when the Corporation and the union may disagree on certain matters, at all times BEC encourages the union to ensure that any action they may be considering is not to the detriment of BEC's customers and by extension the entire country." BEC said they are committed to working with all unions in the best interests of all concerned parties.