The Tribune

• Union’s job fears over compulsory COVID inoculation

• Carrier’s parent: ‘We will never break Bahamian law’

• Timing not decided; March eyed for BTC office return

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) line staff union yesterday warned it will “shut the company down” if its parent continues to push a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.

Sherry Benjamin, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union’s president, told Tribune Business that “we’re not going to allow any company to come in here and force Bahamians to do something against their will” after Cable & Wireless Communications, BTC’s immediate controlling owner, unveiled its “vaccine mandate for all employees.

Confirming her belief that permanent, contract and temporary could all be looking for new jobs if they are not vaccinated by New Year’s Day 2022, she added that the union was pinning its hopes on intervention by the Prime Minister and the newly-elected Davis administration.

Philip Davis QC met Inge Smidts, CWC’s chief executive, and the BTC parent’s leadership team yesterday to discuss their plans for moving the Bahamian carrier forward, but this newspaper was told that the mandatory vaccination issue did not come up as a talking point.

Clint Watson, the Prime Minister’s press secretary, last night described it as “an introductory meeting” where the CWC team gave a presentation on BTC’s current status “and the focus” for moving the legacy telecommunications provider forward. 

“The Prime Minister committed to getting the new names that will represent the Government on the Board by tomorrow,” he added, noting that further meetings between the two sides will be held. CWC and the Government have been partners in BTC since the 2011 privatisation, with the former holding Board and management control via a structure that gives it the dominant interest.

BTC, responding to the union’s concerns in a statement issued last night in CWC’s name but on its own letter head, said that neither itself nor its parent would breach Bahamian law or government policy - a reference seemingly to the fact that COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory in this nation.

It added that the compulsory vaccination policy proposed by CWC had not yet been rolled out in The Bahamas, and said it was working towards BTC staff returning to the office by March 2022 - a date some two months later than that cited in a recent message to staff by chief executive Andre Foster.

“Given the state of the pandemic, the company has taken the decision to mandate vaccination for our employees in a phased approach over time. This decision was not taken lightly, but ultimately we believe we have a responsibility to our employees, our customers and the communities we serve,” the joint BTC/CWC statement said.

“The timing for the vaccination mandate, and adoption of the hybrid working model, will be determined on a market-by-market basis considering factors such as country vaccination rates, employee vaccination rates, the availability of in-person schooling, and accessibility to public transportation, among other criteria.”

The statement continued: “The mandate has not yet been rolled out in The Bahamas, and Cable & Wireless Communications would never contravene any local law or governmental policy. We are working towards having employees return to the office in March 2022 in a hybrid working model where those who have been working remotely will return to the office for a minimum of two days a week based on their roles and responsibilities.

“We are, however, currently requiring that all contract workers and third-party vendors servicing our customers be fully vaccinated as a condition of a BTC contract effective January 1, 2022.” Mr Foster had previously said “BTC does not currently meet our company requirements for a vaccination mandate and the return to office will not be until January 2022 at the earliest”.

Ms Benjamin, though, said that when she met with Ms Smidts in mid-October she tried to obtain details about the vaccination policy being pursued by CWC and its owner, Liberty Latin America (LiLAC), and whether its mandatory nature would be limited to BTC contract workers and temporary staff.

“She said no. She confirmed they were making it a company mandate, whether permanent or temporary, to be vaccinated,” the BCPOU chief recalled of the meeting. “She said they were not backing away from their decision.”

Ms Benjamin said she informed the CWC chief executive that, should it make vaccination compulsory for full-time BTC staff, this would amount to a unilateral, arbitrary breach of both the BCPOU’s industrial agreement and the employment terms and conditions of all workers - a move that could potentially trigger trade disputes and legal action.

“I told her if that was the road they are going to take, and try to force it on any members we have, an industrial agreement is in place and it doesn’t contain anything to do with this vaccination policy,” she told this newspaper. “And if they are going to try and do it, we would have to take action.

“I expressed to her [Ms Smidts] that the first article in the industrial agreement says the union is the sole bargaining agent. I let her know that if she tried to force this vaccination policy, non-vaccinated and vaccinated, we’re going to stand together and shut the business down.”

Ms Smidts, in a recent CWC-wide memo that also went to BTC staff, confirmed: “We have taken a decision to introduce a vaccine mandate for all employees in conjunction with our phased Return to the Office approach. The mandate will be implemented on a market-by-market basis over time depending on our unique local conditions.”

She added that CWC was targeting an 80 percent vaccination rate among its employees by end-2021, and said inoculation “is our best way out of the pandemic” based on advice received from medical and health professionals.

The situation again highlights the clash between multinational company policies and The Bahamas’ own laws, together with the Government’s position that COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory.

This was previously exposed at Atlantis, when the resort required non-vaccinated workers to pay for their weekly COVID tests, as a compromise with its owner, Brookfield Asset Management’s, worldwide mandatory inoculation policy. However, nobody has come up with a better route for exiting the pandemic than vaccination.

Ms Benjamin, meanwhile, said the “is not anti-vaccination. We need to make that clear. We are anti-forced vaccination. We don’t want to force anybody to take the vaccine; it should be a personal choice”.

She added that the union had successfully persuaded BTC and CWC to push back the original October 15 date for all contract and temporary workers to become vaccinated, and said: “At this point right now it’s in a waiting game. Right now we’re in a wait and see as to what happens on January 1.”

Voicing hope that the Prime Minister would intervene, Ms Benjamin also expressed displeasure that, in a recent meeting to discuss the mandatory vaccination plan, a LiLAC legal adviser informed attendees that the communications giant would not be assuming financial or any other liabilities incurred by workers who had an adverse reaction to the vaccine.

“They clearly said that, as of January 1, if you are not vaccinated you are going to be looking for employment somewhere else,” Ms Benjamin said. “We’re not going to stand for forced vaccinations. We’ll stand together and shut the company down if anyone is sent home because of their vaccine status. The staff are really up in arms, especially the contract workers.”

Warning that there was “no skills bank for BTC to dip into” if it released multiple contract workers for refusing to become vaccinated, the BCPOU chief added: “If the majority of them decide not to get vaccinated and are let go on January 1, the only thing BTC can do is bring in foreigners who do not know the network, and do not know the plant, to take over those positions.

“We are definitely not going to be tolerating that. We’re going to stand with the contract workers, and stand with the temporary workers. We’re hoping the public will stand with us. We have to draw the line.”

Disclosing that new BTC hires are required to be fully vaccinated to take the job, Ms Benjamin said: “I hope the public bears with us, but one way or another we will deal with this. We’re not going to allow any company to come in here and force Bahamians to do something and, at the end of the day, they pack up and leave.”

She added that she planned to use her position as third vice-president of the National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas (NCTUB) to galvanise support from the wider union movement, and said BTC’s Perpall Tract facilities were too small to accommodate returning staff in a manner that complies with COVID-19 health protocols.