The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Telecommunications Company CEO Leon Williams yesterday could not confirm whether the company was considering “sweetening” the voluntary separation packages being offered to at least 150 workers.

Mr Williams said the matter was “still a point for negotiations” and that he would not be present at a meeting tonight between the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union and BTC in reference to “sweetening” the VSPs.

Mr Williams said his negotiating team will be present to “see what the union wants to put on the table”.

His statements come after BCPOU president Bernard Evans told The Tribune the union expected to meet with BTC executives tonight to discuss “sweetening” the VSP packages. He said the union was unhappy with the packages the company was offering, which he said was the “same package that was offered four years ago before Value Added Tax was even introduced.”

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday at a Bahamas Society of Engineers luncheon, Mr Williams said: “I’ve had a negotiating team negotiating. Mr Evans has his members that constitute his union. The only people who are not unionised at BTC are the 17 executives. Everyone else is either in the senior managers union or there’s been some complicity with some of the stuff that happened over the last couple of days between both unions.

“So my management negotiating team will be there, not me. They will see what the union wants to put on the table. I don’t know of any sweetening. The deal that I offered … the VSP that I offered was the same that was offered since 2011; 552 took it, including 12 Bahamian executives. As I stated previously up until last month there were still people benefitting from the VSP. As far as a sweetener is concerned that’s still a point for negotiations.”

On Tuesday, Mr Evans said the union would be meeting with BTC executives tonight with the sole purpose of ascertaining whether BTC had “sweetened the pot with the packages they are offering”.

He said he expected to have positive feedback from BTC executives during the meeting. He said the conversation’s outcome would determine what the union’s next move will be.

“We will get the details from them and answers to some of the requests we made,” Mr Evans said. “Depending on what is offered we will be able to say, how many, if any of the members will accept the VSP.”

Last week, it was announced that BTC plans to cut between 150 to 250 jobs in preparation for competition.

As a result, the union filed an application for a strike vote with the Ministry of Labour. The application was submitted two days before BTC workers in New Providence and Grand Bahama staged reported sick outs in protest against the company’s plans to offer voluntary separation packages to at least 150 workers.

On Tuesday, Mr Evans said the union had still not received a date from the Ministry for the strike, but he is hopeful they will have a response in a few days.

Nonetheless, Mr Evans had said the impending staff cuts were “shocking” and “insulting.” He said BTC employees were “distraught” over the rushed, “sneaky” way the company was handling the move.

However, Mr Williams yesterday defended the move and reiterated that the impending cuts were strictly business related.

“This is not about emotions or about politics,” he said. “This is simply business. No bank, Atlantis, Baha Mar, is going to run it any differently. So let’s not get emotive, emotional about this. This is a business that we’ve got to run. And if we fold up the Bahamian people lose 51 cents out of every dollar BTC makes.

“So when I hear people talk about the union I just want to put it into perspective. If this was your business what would you do? You would seek as much as possible to save as many jobs as possible, but you cannot save them all. It’s business. It’s not how I feel or how you feel.”