The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Several dozen Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) workers yesterday joined with executives from the company's two trade unions to demonstrate against feared job losses and other grievances with the carrier.

Members of the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) and the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), which represent the company's middle managers and line staff respectively, marched and held placards outside BTC's Perpall Tract head office as they protested over concerns that jobs at the company's customer contact centre are being outsourced to a Pakistan sub-contractor.

Sherry Benjamin, the BCPOU's president, voiced fears that the move could compromise data security and protection for BTC's Bahamian customers if the company, which is 49 percent owned by the Government, outsources the handling of complaints submitted via What's App to Pakistan. She also argued that many Bahamian staff at BTC's contact centre are still under temporary contracts, and have yet to be made permanent, despite holding their posts for several years.

"They are just outsourcing more and more jobs that Bahamians were supposed to be doing," Ms Benjamin said. "They are outsourcing to foreign entities and having Bahamians train them to do their jobs. And they have a lot of persons here on contract that they are frustrating because they're keeping them up to eight years as temporary or contract workers. These people cannot make any plans for their life."

Ms Benjamin questioned the risks involved in allowing third-party vendors access to the personal information of BTC customers, warning that this could be exploited by "unscrupulous" individuals who can sell this data to criminals or abuse it themselves.

“We have to live here, and it's going to be our parents, our neighbours, our siblings, that are going to be taken advantage of if our communication information is used unscrupulously by these people," she added. Ms Benjamin said she was not accusing the Pakistani vendor or its employees of wrongdoing, but said attempts to convince BTC management to reconsider the arrangement were "fruitless" so the unions decided to show their disdain over the situation publicly.

“We just want to send a message to BTC," she added. "We've tried diplomacy. We had a conversation with the chief executive every other day. Every day last week we were in communication with the chief executive. Myself and the president of the managers union were in communication with the chief executive, asking them to rethink this whole decision. We had a meeting on Friday that was very fruitless. We didn't realise any good outcome from that meeting.

“We are now letting them know, and letting the public know, and letting our government know, that the unions are upset about this. The workers are upset about it and we don't think it's a good idea for - not just the workers and BTC - but for the country as a whole.”

BTC declined to comment further yesterday, instead referring Tribune Business to the statement it issued to this newspaper last Thursday when it denied there were any plans to outsource Bahamian jobs.

“The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has not outsourced the job of any Bahamian employed in its contact centre. On the contrary, BTC has consistently on-boarded new colleagues and last year increased its contact centre complement to meet the growing demands of our customers," BTC said then.

“The contact centre remains an integral part of the BTC business, and the company is focused on on-boarding even more local talent to provide best-in-class customer care. We also have plans to on-board young, Bahamian talent through our graduate programme. BTC is currently working on several digital projects and initiatives to modernise its customer care platforms to make them more accessible to customers at their convenience.”

The situation is a tricky one for the Davis administration. It has made much of putting Bahamians first, yet is a 49 percent shareholder - and has three Board seats, albeit a minority - in a company accused of planning to outsource local jobs overseas. BTC is controlled by Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), its immediate parent, which is itself owned by Liberty Latin America.

Kendrick Knowles, the managers union's president, meanwhile said BTC is using foreign labour for managerial and line staff positions in a bid to replace Bahamian workers.

“We have a number of concerns; the outsourcing is just one of them," he added. "But, on that particular point, we are seeing jobs on the line staff level as well as management level leaving this country. And the question we have is 'why'. This company, which was called BaTelCo, was built by Bahamians…and they are replacing these staff with foreigners.

“What is the reason for that? It's not because we're not able to do the work. We obviously built a company big enough for you to be interested in purchasing it. So why aren't we given an opportunity to be a part of the development and the success of the company?”

Mr Knowles asserted that the relocation of BTC's head office from JFK Drive to Perpall Tract demonstrated the company's view of its employees and that they are no longer viewed as "important" by management.

He said: “They don't see us as being important any longer. And we see this in what they do… They moved us from JFK. It's a perfect example. A head office on a highway, very visible, bring us into back here in what used to be a storage room.

“We have a corporate office in the back of Perpall Tract, outside of anybody. That is showing a reduction in our identity, who we were as a people. The pride we used to have as being a part of this company is now being pushed in the back of the bush.”

Mr Knowles said recent changes have not benefited BTC or its employees, and he maintained that customer dissatisfaction with the company is at an "all-time high".

“Why are Pakistanis answering for 'tier one' and 'tier two' support for our customers? We've been doing this for over 100 years. We know how to do this. So the point is that they're reducing us to a level of unimportance; to reduce it from a capital 'B' to a lowercase 'b'; from a head office and multi-floor to a storage facility in the back of the bush in the pond. This is where we've been reduced to," he added.

“Did the sale [of BTC] benefit The Bahamas? Did it benefit employees at BaTelCo? Did it benefit Bahamians? The company is supposed to be more profitable; they're supposed to be more visible; they're supposed to be a staple of this country. But what we're seeing now, our customer dissatisfaction is at an all-time high.”

Mr Knowles also criticised the conditions BTC workers in Abaco face, alleging that four years after Hurricane Dorian the bathroom facilities have not been repaired at the BTC office. He said “Why aren't there bathrooms in Abaco? Four years after the hurricane our employees have to use the bathroom of another company.

“This is not acceptable for The Bahamas. This is not who we are. And this is not who we should be as a company. All we're saying is listen, Liberty and Cable & Wireless need to show that they care for the people.”

Mr Knowles maintained that workers at BTC's contact centre are "overworked", and questioned if management was reducing staff in an attempt to push Bahamian workers to resign so that foreign labour can be employed. He added that skilled workers hired by BTC do not follow a training plan so that their understudies can learn during their employment.

He charged: “Workers are being overworked.. they're giving the job of five people to one person, and then they compare our output with other regions that have supporting staff. We only have 35 people in the call centre and they're comparing us with regions that have hundreds. Why are you doing this? Why you frustrating people out of the business to cause them to leave the job and resign? So that you can justify bringing in foreigners?”

“Why is the Government of The Bahamas giving work permits for functions that have been carried on in this company by employees? They claim to bring a skill set that we don't have, but yet they are training no one. On the application they are putting names of persons they are supposed to be training, but these persons say I don't know anything about it; they are not training me. Where's the training plan? How long are they going to be here?”