The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

IF CUSTOMS and immigration workers object to a new medical insurance package then the government has no reservations about re-implementing their previous scheme, Prime Minister Perry Christie said yesterday.

According to Mr Christie, all possible efforts were made to negotiate “superior” insurance coverage for the workers, but the Bahamas Customs Immigration and Allied Workers Union (BCIAWU) has said the new package reduces medical coverage.

They insist that grave measures – including strike action – will be taken to have the package revoked. They have filed a trade dispute in that regard.

Mr Christie said: “Notwithstanding the fact that I am advised that there is a superior package, I have no difficulty whatsoever of being able to give them what they had.

“It would have implications to the loss of certain benefits that they would have had as a result of the new regime. But I have no difficulty whatsoever with them wanting to revert to the position they were in.”

Labour Minister Shane Gibson said if the employees reject the insurance package, the government cannot force them to use its benefits. But he cautioned the union about taking industrial action.

“If it is more beneficial to the employees,” Mr Gibson said, “and they don’t want the plan then why should we force it on them? At the same time they have a right to apply for a strike vote and we have a right to respond.

“It’s easy walking off, (but when) you spend months off the job with no salary and no income you have to decide how you are going to get back on. But fortunately for us I don’t think its going to get to that.”

Efforts to reach BCIAWU vice-president Sloan Smith for comment were not successful.

On Monday at a press conference, Mr Smith the affected officers were hurt because their new insurance coverage did not fit the bill by their standards.

He said: “It cuts to the core of human dignity when a man who is working hard for the government, for his country, is unable to go to a medical practitioner of his choice to ensure that he and his family get good medical coverage.

“Politicians come and go, but the medical issues we have to confront with out families, they remain, they are everyday occurrences and our pockets cannot withstand this onslaught.”