The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

DEMOCRATIC National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney has questioned whether the government was responsible for the potential layoffs of over 100 employees at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company. 

Mr McCartney argued that as the government had secured a majority economic interest in the company last August, then the Voluntary Separation Packages being offered to between 150 to 250 workers is likely at the government’s bidding.

If not, said Mr McCartney, then the government was “not truthful” with the Bahamian people when it claimed it had acquired majority economic interest in BTC. 

“Which one is it?” he asked. “It’s one or the other. So, if it’s the government, and they said they got back the shares, this PLP government is laying off 150 plus people from BTC. 

“On the other hand, if the government did not get the shares back, it’s Cable and Wireless laying off the 150 Bahamians, and that means that this government was again not truthful to the Bahamian people when they said they got back the majority shares in BTC. Which one is it? It’s one or the other.”

In January last year, Tribune Business reported an agreement between London-based Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) and the Christie administration’s negotiating team, with nothing changing at BTC in terms of its daily operations. 

The key terms of the deal were that CWC retained board and management control at BTC, while an entity, called the BTC Foundation, was created to own the two per cent equity stake that CWC relinquished in the privatised carrier. 

However, the deal left both CWC and the government with matching 49 per cent equity stakes in BTC.

The deal allowed the government to assert that it had returned majority control of BTC to the public, adding the foundation’s stake to the government’s existing 49 per cent. 

At the time the deal was finalised six months later, CWC Chairman Phil Bentley presented a $1m cheque to the foundation. In February, however, BTC staff were informed of the company’s plans to cut between 150 to 250 jobs in preparation for competition. 

As a result, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) 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 to protest the expected lay offs. 

BCPOU President Bernard Evans 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, BTC CEO Leon Williams defended the move. He said the impending cuts were strictly business. 

Ten days ago, Mr Evans told The Tribune that he suspected that only a small number of employees would apply for the voluntary separation packages, adding that he was not surprised by the low figures that he anticipated because the packages offered to employees were unacceptable. 

Mr Evans previously acknowledged there had been talk of BTC looking to cut some 200 staff pre-Christmas, which was halted by the government’s intervention. 

However, Shane Gibson, Minister of Labour and National Insurance, previously said there was nothing the Christie administration could do about BTC’s latest plans. 

BTC has gone through several downsizing exercises since its 2011 privatisation and purchase by CWC. 

Its first separation package saw some 350 staff leave and BTC/CWC have reintroduced this in a bid to avoid moving to compulsory redundancies. The planned reduction would cut staff numbers from 779 to between 579 and 629.