The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

CUSTOMS and Immigration Officers have stopped all industrial action now that their trade dispute has been referred to the Industrial Tribunal.

Under the Industrial Relations Act, once grievances are forwarded to the Tribunal it is illegal to engage or encourage industrial action.

Codero Edgecombe, Sergeant-at-Arms in the Bahamas Customs and Immigration Allied Workers Union, said the union received a letter yesterday explaining that the trade dispute has been sent to the Tribunal for arbitration.

“We received the strike certificate and we also received today a notification from the Tribunal that the Minister has lodged a case with them. So now all action has been called off by the union pending the Tribunal hearing,” he said.

“Our members will now work the shifts assigned to them until the Tribunal makes a decision. So that is where we are now. We have called everything off. We haven’t received a date as yet but hopefully we will within a day or so.”

However, Mr Edgecombe said the union will fight the government over the decision to cut the pay of the workers who refused to work their assigned shifts.

“You cannot discriminate against a person in a trade dispute or any action that they take during the dispute,” he said. “The government can cut them if they want, but we will fight them until they put the money back on. We will not stand for that.”

The union recently lost a court battle to have its shift system overturned, but workers have still refused to work the controversial shift system and are instead working their regular 9am - 5am shifts.

On Monday, Labour Minister Shane Gibson said those customs and immigration workers who do not adhere to the shift system will face pay cuts.

He added that the union could not legally act on its strike vote because the matter had been referred to the Industrial Tribunal.

“Officers that are not working their assigned shift, for those officers who showed up at 9am when they were supposed to show up at 4pm.

“If you didn’t work, you cannot expect to be paid,” Mr Gibson said.