The Tribune

By Khrisna Russell

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

SIGNIFICANT line and managerial staff absences forced the National Insurance Board to activate its emergency contingency plan, which featured the closure of both its Wulff Road and Fox Hill offices.

The action also let to the closure of some Family Island branches. 

Yesterday marked the third day line staff took matters into their own hands, but the first day that many managers backed these efforts to force NIB’s hand for a better industrial agreement. Those discussions are ongoing.

NIB Director Nicola Virgill-Rolle, in an interview with The Tribune, said yesterday that while the main office at Baillou Hill Road was offering a wide range of services, efforts were largely focused on providing short-term benefits and pension payments.

Despite best efforts by the small number of staff that did show up to work, there were many customers who left NIB disgruntled yesterday over a notable inconvenience.

Among them was a woman who requested to only be identified as Tera. She travelled from Exuma yesterday morning only for the day to receive a letter from NIB for her daughter’s passport application.

She said her attempt to get this document failed when she was directed by an NIB employee to return in seven days as workers were on “strike”.

“Ain’t no one serving me,” Tera told The Tribune. “The woman told me ‘miss we are not processing any papers. Come back in seven days because we are on strike.’ I came from Exuma on the plane this morning to deal with my daughter’s passport. My daughter is going away to Texas with the Defence Force Rangers summer camp and I need to complete her passport. So that just messed me up so that’s $200 odd dollars I spend is for nothing because I can’t get it.

“I don’t know why they on strike. This don’t make no sense, man.”

Raphael Ceremont also expressed frustration because he was unable to obtain a document to renew his cleaning company’s business licence.

“I come to get a tax paper for my business licence but they tell me Monday. I can’t work because I need the paper but they tell me come back.”

Another woman could be heard shouting inside the building: “They wasting people time, man. No one has time for this!”

However, one person, Wilton Rolle, told this newspaper the service he received was “fantastic”. Mr Rolle said he was there to receive a cheque.

When she spoke of the issue, Mrs Virgill-Rolle said she hoped for a speedy resolution, but could not say when the apparent impasse between the Union of Public Officers and NIB’s executives would come to an end.

She said: “As of today, given our significant staff absences we have operated our emergency contingency plan, which includes a real focus on providing short-term benefits and our pension payments.

“We have closed our Wulff Road and Fox Hill offices and that’s for New Providence where the bulk of our clients obviously are.

“Everyone is manning the headquarters office. So for the day we offer a full range of services. However the focus has to be on ensuring our customers receive their short-term benefit cheques and any pensioners who need cheque payments can also be serviced. Pensions payments though by direct deposit have gone out and that is the majority of our pensioners.

“NIB is an important institution in the Bahamas and we focus providing that income replacement due to retirement, due to maternity, due to sickness (and) funeral benefits. So it was very important for us to ensure that those services as much as possible were not disrupted.”

In the Family Islands, Mrs Virgil-Rolle said Grand Bahama; Bimini; Abaco – Cooper’s Town and Marsh Harbour; North Eleuthera; and Greys and Bunches, Long Island were performing key services and disbursing cheques.

Persons were also dispatched to Moore’s Island to make pension payments.

She was unable to say how many people did not report for duty. However on Wednesday it was said that an estimated 300 line staff did not turn up. This number would have increased with the backing of the managers.

On Tuesday, NIB workers staged a protest during their morning tea break.

NIB further released a statement saying its Occupational Health and Safety Unit (OHSU) would address emergency industrial and medical cases only, however, customers can continue to submit industrial accident forms (B44) at the Carmichael Road office.

It also said that the providers for the National Prescription Drug Plan could potentially face service disruptions, adding that efforts would be made to resolve the challenges as quickly as possible.

Mrs Virgill-Rolle thanked customers for patience during what she called a difficult period. She said officials were doing their best to ensure the needed services were received.