The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has slashed its "top heavy" executive management by releasing three vice-president-level executives, a union leader told Tribune Business.

Bernard Evans, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union's (BCPOU) president, told this newspaper he had expected such a move from the incumbent operator for some time.

Mr Evans alleged he had been informed that Carlyle Roberts, BTC's vice-president for enterprise and strategic solutions; Jonathan Ford, vice-president of planning and engineering; and Alban Smith, BTC's chief information officer, had all been offered and "accepted packages".

Tribune Business was unable to contact Mr Roberts for comment yesterday, and all three had been removed from BTC's executive line-up on the communications operator's website. Mr Evans also disclosed that Janet Brown, BTC's chief marketing officer and senior vice-president of sales, was departing the company after resigning.

None of the four has done anything wrong, and the redundancies are merely the latest in a series of ongoing workforce reductions and restructurings that have occurred since BTC was privatised in April 2011 via the sale to Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC).

BTC confirmed in a statement that it had made "a few positions redundant", although it neither identified the posts nor the names involved. However, Mr Evans, confirming the three names, said: "Some of this was expected.

"We thought the company was kind of top heavy in terms of executive vice-presidents. We were also told some time ago that they were top heavy in middle management also. Even though they said that, we have seen a recent increase in new management. It was kid of contradictory to say it was top heavy but you're still adding to that top."

Dexter Cartwright, BTC's interim chief executive, issued a statement saying the redundancies were part of the carrier's efforts to become a leaner, more efficient and customer-focused operation.

"As part of our strategic approach to transform to a more customer centric, high-performing organisation, we are making adjustments to how we run our business," said BTC.

"We are carrying out necessary network upgrades, giving more focus on training and development, and improving back office support to better serve our customers.

"As part of this broader programme, we have adjusted our team structure and, as such, a few positions at BTC have been made redundant. We reaffirm our commitment to building a more effective team structure to deliver the best products and services to the Bahamas."

Mr Evans, meanwhile, accused BTC of going back on the arrangement previously agreed, including with the BCPOU, with the plant workers outsourced some two to three years ago.

He explained that the workers were told to form themselves into a company to bid on a Request for Proposal (RFP) to be issued by BTC, with the union negotiating a "right of first refusal" for those staff if they made an offer.

Mr Evans, though, said BTC was now "not going in that direction", with an RFP exercise having been launched but never concluded. He added that, instead, it wanted to renegotiate the ousourced workers' long-term contracts so that it became a 'pay for performance' arrangement.

"The outside plant, the outside contract workers set up their own company, setting aside some money and time investing in that opportunity," he told Tribune Business. "The company has changed that to where they're seeking a collective agreement with the outside plant workers.

"Once they left the company, the salaries they are receiving are pretty much the same. What BTC is saying now is that they want to renegotiate those long-term contracts on a pay for performance basis - you did 10 jobs, you get paid for 10 jobs."

Mr Evans said BCPOU representatives were set to attend a meeting next month in Grenada that will be attended by European and Caribbean-based unions who represent employees of BTC's controlling shareholder, Liberty Global.

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