The Tribune

THE BEC union was jubilant. The country was angry – even staunch PLPs who, regardless of what nonsense their government did always remained loyal, had broken ranks. They too were angry and questioned Mr Christie’s ability to stand up to the unions and establish fiscal stability in the nation.

“PM take too many more missteps and you’ll return to your party’s unpopularity of 2002 -2007. PM still time to fix yourself,” one of them advised.

Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller, appointed chairman of BEC in the Christie administration, had promised to reduce the cost of electricity for struggling Bahamians, even for our tourist industry which could no longer compete in the international arena because the Bahamas was too expensive — the main killer being the cost of electricity.

When Mr Miller examined BEC’s books, he found that an over generous corporation was being destroyed by its labour costs. He also discovered something that most Bahamians knew — overtime was being abused. By the end of the year, he had cut BEC’s annual $12 million overtime bill down to $4.2 million.

Here was a union that had a pension plan to which its members had not contributed — all paid for by taxpayers who were themselves struggling to meet their high electrical costs. BEC workers had a medical fund, again to which they had made no contribution, but which had by now accumulated to the point where each had a million dollar fund from which to draw in case of sickness. On top of this there were the bonuses. What more did they want? It was then discovered that BEC staff, as well as at least 20,000 other public servants, were “double dipping”. Not only were they paid full salary by BEC while on sick leave, but they also collected another third of their salary from National Insurance. BPSU president John Pinder, in confirming this, estimated that this practice was costing the Bahamian taxpayer at least an extra $10 million a year. It was indeed an inducement to take a sick leave “vacation”.

Mr Miller saw another opportunity to cut costs. Last Thursday, he issued a memo ordering the end of “double-dipping”. The union threatened to strike, but agreed to hold off until the Prime Minister returned from Europe to sit down and explain how they were being mistreated by Chairman Miller. By now, Mr Miller had most of the country behind him.

In the House of Assembly, V Alfred Gray told members that “nowhere in this country is it allowed legally to get full salary when you’re sick and have National Insurance pay you benefits as well. Under the National Insurance Act, that is illegal. National Insurance should only make up for the shortfall you might experience if your employers cut your pay. But you can’t get 100 per cent from your employers and then file for claim at National Insurance, that is illegal, and there is no contract that could be signed for an illegal act.”

While the Prime Minister was in Europe, Deputy Prime Minister Brave Davis seemingly backed Mr Miller.

He admitted that during his chairmanship of the National Insurance Board (2000-2007) he had the same matter on the table “actively addressing this issue because the whole public service is doing the same thing. While they are off sick, they are paid their full salary and they still claim for National Insurance. It was never intended to be that.”

No, it was never intended to be like that. It was a matter that was supposedly settled during the Pindling era. It was made clear then that “double-dipping” was not intended, but Sir Lynden, always timid to cross a union, must have made an exception for all of them. And so today when the country is broke, Bahamians are saddled with a major problem that was never meant to be.

When Algernon Cargill was appointed chairman of NIB in 2007, he clearly saw the iniquity and immediately put an end to it at NIB. This was possibly one of the reasons that he was fired from his position when the PLP became the government last year?

On Mr Christie’s return, a meeting was arranged between the union and Mr Davis — not Mr Christie. At the end of the meeting a jubilant union leader, Stephano Greene, gloated over his victory. He said his defeat of Mr Miller came after a “very good meeting” with Deputy Prime Minister Davis, who had earlier admitted to the press that such a practice should never have been. However, it was claimed that Mr Davis was acting on the instructions of the Prime Minister.

“The government looked at it and saw it was the same benefit as over 20,000 workers – at the Ministry of Works, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Labour – also get,” Mr Greene explained. “They realised it would be unfair to pick on us.”

But, obviously, it is not unfair to pick on the Bahamian people, many of whom do not have jobs and can’t even afford electricity. It seems that in these troubled times it is far more important to keep unionists — some of the best paid workers in the country — happy than to upset hard-working taxpayers.

It is now time for the nation’s voice to be heard.