Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union President Bernard Evans.
By SANCHESKA DORSETT
Tribune Staff Reporter
Sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
THE government is working with management at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company and union officials with the hope of resolving the conflict for more than 100 employees who are allegedly being forced to sign new contracts or face termination, according to Labour Minister Dion Foulkes.
Meanwhile Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) President Bernard Evans said the union has written to BTC asking for an extended deadline before a decision is made. Speaking with reporters before heading into a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr Foulkes said while he does not have “full carriage” of the situation, he has met with Mr Evans and the management of BTC in an attempt to resolve the situation.
On Monday Mr Evans told The Tribune BTC had threatened to terminate contracts with 147 workers if they did not sign a new agreement by 1pm on Tuesday.
Mr Evans said at the time the employees have all agreed to “stand their ground” and not sign the new contracts until they have “proper representation” and time to renegotiate.
He said the employees accepted voluntary separation packages (VSOP) from BTC some time ago, under the guise that they “could become entrepreneurs”.
However, he said two years later, BTC seems to be “going back on their word”.
Yesterday Mr Evans said the union has sent a letter to the management at BTC asking for an extended deadline as well as a “meeting of the minds”. He said so far, he has received no response.
Mr Evans also said he has not heard of anyone being terminated yet but fears the firings could come.
“Right now, we are waiting for a response from BTC but I know they are refusing to allow BCPOU to be recognised as the bargaining agent for the employees,” Mr Evans said yesterday.
“However, a letter was drafted and sent to BTC, petitioning them and letting them know about the concerns the workers have. There have been no discussions and the employees want to go through everything item by item. So hopefully they will be allowed go through the contract, item by item. The deadline for the employees to sign the contract was at 1pm and we sent the letter before then so we are just waiting on BTC to respond. We do anticipate to hear from them.”
The Tribune contacted the management at BTC but no calls were returned up to press time.
Mr Foulkes said he hopes the situation can be resolved quickly and in everyone’s best interest.
“The board at BTC and the management team have made certain decisions with respect to a certain group of employees and I spoke with Mr Evans who is the spokesman for that group and I will speak with him again this evening (Tuesday) to see what extent we can bring a resolution to the matter,” Mr Foulkes said.
“I am trying to get full carriage of it, at this time I do not know what all the issues are, it came to my attention on Friday but I think we can get it resolved. I am going to speak with them again and I am hopeful we will get it resolved. We (the government) are going to explore some options but I would be premature if I announce that now,” Mr Foulkes added.
On Monday, Mr Evans explained the situation.
“About two years ago, 147 employees in the technical field were made to accept voluntary separation packages and were told that BTC would outsource the department,” the union leader told The Tribune. “They were also encouraged to form into a company and BTC would give them the contract to perform the same services.
“At the time, the union negotiated that the workers would continue to make salaries until they put together the company and BTC was able to prepare the RFP. Well, two companies emerged from among those persons, however two years later BTC took the RFP off the table and now they want to change the terms and conditions of the agreement and sign a new deed of release and have a new contract.”
Comments
jujutreeclub 7 years ago
*StrongAbout two years ago, 147 employees in the technical field were made to accept voluntary separation packages and were told that BTC would outsource the department,” the union leader told The Tribune. “They were also encouraged to form into a company and BTC would give them the contract to perform the same services.
“At the time, the union negotiated that the workers would continue to make salaries until they put together the company and BTC was able to prepare the RFP. Well, two companies emerged from among those persons, however two years later BTC took the RFP off the table and now they want to change the terms and conditions of the agreement and sign a new deed of release and have a new contract.”***
I am trying to understand this situation. Are they still BTC employees or they are their own bosses?. They formed their own companies, so therefore they are their own bosses. I know with RFP's, they go out to bid and the best company wins the proposal, so how are they so attached to BTC with BTC providing them with cell phones and minutes free, laptops and vehicles. This sound like a sweetheart deal. In addition, they want vacation pay included in this RFP. Since when do the company you are providing a service to is responsible for your vacation pay. That is your company so therefore you work that in yourself. If the contract is up, then re-negotiate another one with the terms you are comfortable with. The company then has the option to accept or reject your offer and negotiate with another vendor providing the same services. How did the union got involved in this? They are no longer members of the BCPOU nor any of the unions. Evans need to sit down with them and read them the riot act and stop leading them on. So does Minister foulkes. Let them negotiate on their own and stay out of private companies business. I say to BTC, negotiate in good faith and select the best deal for you. There are former employees of Batelco who can and are willing to take on the challenge.We can form our own company and do exactly what they bare doing. Go through your list of former employees and lets negotiate. Phone numbers hasn't changed, so go to that database and give them a call. They are awaiting that call.
ThisIsOurs 7 years ago
I think these were employees who were given a separation package. What BTC did was to offer them the contract to continue to provide the services they did as employees.
From what I understand, the service level dropped drastically after the contract was awarded. And the guys simply did not care, they'd gotten "paid". I suspect BTC is now trying to tie performance measures to payment and these guys don't want that. They want to continue getting paid whether they do the work in a reasonable time or not.
I would urge the Min of Labour to leave the issue alone if that is indeed what BTC is trying to correct
Sickened 7 years ago
These 147 ex employees are looking very pathetic, greedy and lazy. And the stupid union is trying to weasel in on the action. Pure comedy!
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