The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

THE president of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) said yesterday that Cable Bahamas Limited has 30 days to enter negotiations “in good faith” with the organisation or risk being “shut down” for the company’s failure to “discuss and conclude” a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) tabled more than ten years ago.

At a press conference yesterday morning at the BCPOU Hall, Bernard Evans said “after numerous attempts” to bring conclusion to the CBA, the union is “outraged” at the management at Cable Bahamas and “enough is enough” of the company’s “blatant disregard for the laws and disrespect for the workers of the Bahamas.”

“The BCPOU has come to its wits end. We’ve given Cable Bahamas now a 30-day notice,” Mr Evans said. “After that if there is no reprieve or no turn in their actions - positive that is in 180 degrees - we are prepared to bring to bear the National Congress of Trade Unions and the Trade Union Congress to shut Cable Bahamas down in one month. We believe enough is enough.”

Cable Bahamas last night expressed its “disappointment and surprise” at the BCPOU’s statements regarding relations between the two.

According to Mr Evans, over a decade ago, then Minister of Labour and Social Development Dion Foulkes issued a recognition certificate pursuant to Section 41 of the Industrial Relations Act 1970 of the Statute Laws of the Bahamas that formally recognised the BCPOU as the “sole bargaining agent for all non-managerial employees of Cable Bahamas Limited.”

Cable Bahamas subsequently challenged Mr Foulkes’ determination and filed a writ in the Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn his decision.

However after an “exhausting” legal battle, the Supreme Court ordered Cable Bahamas to recognise the BCPOU as bargaining agent and enter negotiations with the union. The two parties subsequently exchanged proposals and began discussions on a collective bargaining agreement for non-management employees of the company.

However, according to Mr Evans, Cable Bahamas to date is “still refusing to negotiate in good faith and discuss and conclude the CBA.”

“They’ve been sitting down with us now for the last 12 to 15 years, seemingly trying to negotiate a contract,” he said. “One negotiation every six months is not good, and while this is going on they’re at liberty to do what they want with the workers at Cable Bahamas. To entreat whomever they want to entreat without any structure.

“This is enough. This is our last plea, and so in 30 days, if we don’t see resolution or if there is no resolution we are prepared now with the assistance of the unions in the congresses to shut Cable Bahamas down. The union will have no choice but to exercise their rights under the Industrial Relations Act and call for civil unrest and industrial action against the company.”

Mr Evans said that in April 2013 the government of the Bahamas enacted an amendment to the Industrial Relations Act. That amendment would treat any failure to “treat and enter into negotiations, in good faith, with a recognised trade union” as a criminal offence in violation of section 41 of the Industrial Relations Act. The offence would be punishable by a $5,000 fine, a two-year prison sentence or both.

Mr Evans stressed his desire for Minister of Labour Shane Gibson and Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson to investigate Cable Bahamas’ actions to see if Cable Bahamas is indeed in breach of the Act; if the company has committed a criminal offence, and if “the board of directors and the Management of Cable Bahamas should be prosecuted for violation of the Act and subject to fine or imprisonment or both fine and imprisonment.”

“Whenever a corporate entity in a democratic society displays such flagrant and deliberate insult towards Bahamian statute laws and internationally accepted industrial relations protocols. they must be exposed and called out to answer to the people of the Bahamas,” he said. “The government has appointed two Bahamians to serve on the board of directors of the company. As directors, these Bahamians, as part of their fiduciary responsibilities, are mandated to ensure that Cable Bahamas complies with all of the Statute laws of the Bahamas and all orders of the Supreme Court.

“It’s almost an apartheid situation there at Cable Bahamas. They have a nice glowing picture on the outside, but if you lift the veil or the cover, you will see all of the rut and the rant that’s going on. It is extremely nasty and personally I’m appalled at those Bahamians who sit around the table as directors, who simply just want to collect the $2,000 a month in stipends and get the free cable service that they enjoy.”

Mr Evans said to date Cable Bahamas has “not properly addressed” the issue of the persons whose health was negatively affected by a 30,000 gallon gas leak that occurred last year and said that some current and former employees are now seeking a lawsuit against Cable Bahamas and Texaco. He added that there is currently no health care coverage for its employees.

Last night, in a statement, Cable Bahamas said it has been abiding by a Supreme Court ruling and has been working with the leadership of the BCPOU in good faith over the years. “Truth be told, the most recent discussions with the BCPOU and Cable Bahamas’ labour consultants took place, on two occasions in May of this year. At the meeting, the union chose to advise Cable Bahamas that it would continue the discussions but would send their preferred approach in writing. Cable Bahamas is still awaiting communication from the BCPOU as promised.”

Cable Bahamas emphasised that the health and safety of its employees and customers, in all of its facilities, has always been a top priority. “The company advised that it is working closely and in correspondence with all government agencies associated with the environmental disaster it is currently enduring at its Robinson Road customer service building. The company is working to ensure the earliest possible resolution to this matter for the neighbourhood, the employees and the company’s affected facility.”