The Tribune

The trade union representing Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) line staff yesterday filed a dispute over the company's alleged failure to enter "good faith" talks on a new industrial deal.

The Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), in a statement, said it had filed a trade dispute today with the Department of Labour over BTC's failure to negotiate a new industrial agreement to replace the former deal that expired 20 months ago.

It alleged that the communications provider, controlled by Liberty Latin America (LiLAC) through Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), is in violation of both the two sides' collective bargaining agreement and the Industrial Relations Act's Chapter 321.

Dino Rolle, the BCPOU's president, stated: "Enough is enough. The officers of the BCPOU have demonstrated extreme patience with the chief executive and executives of BTC, and we came to the bargaining table in good faith.

"What we've received in return are excuses and delays. The livelihood of our members is at stake and we must remain steadfast and ensure that their rights are protected."

Mr Rolle added that BTC's industrial agreement proposal were unreasonable in The Bahamas' current economic climate, and said: "They are expecting to run a corporation by cutting costs at the expense of the staff."

Besides delays with the renewal of the industrial agreement, Mr Rolle cited a host of issues he said were undermining the morale of BTC staff. These include delayed payments to staff for approved and worked overtime; an increase in the hiring of foreign labour, particularly in the retail, IT and finance areas; and the breach of the sales agreement for BTC's privatisation by CWC in 2011 through plans to close the company's call centre and ship Bahamian jobs overseas.

Mr Rolle argued that BTC must develop and a sound corporate strategy that focused on technology infrastructure investments to grow company revenues. "This thoughtless approach of cutting costs on the backs of Bahamians to maintain a company is myopic and is not sustainable," he added.

Ricardo Thompson, president of the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU), stated he backed the BCPOU with his union set to soon follow suit.

"The current leadership at BTC must embark on a mission to rebuild the company and create an environment that members would be happy to be a part of while maintaining its profitability," Mr Thompson said.

The BCPOU and the BCPMU are the sole bargaining units for line-staff and managers, respectively at BTC.