The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A union president yesterday charged that the impasse with Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) management goes beyond alleged breaches of the two sides’ industrial agreement to involve concerns such as health and safety issues.

Kyle Wilson, head of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU), which represents BPL’s line staff, alleged to Tribune Business that there are hundreds of workers, including managers, who are afraid to speak up about working conditions at the electrical utility.

“There are many health and safety violations,” he said, while also repeating claims that BPL has implemented a contributory pension scheme - where workers contribute a portion of their salaries to finance their retirements - that is not part of the industrial agreement. Mr Wilson said that, despite these concerns, monies are being taken from worker salaries.

The current industrial agreement between BPL and the union was signed in September 2021 just prior to that year’s general election. However, Mr Wilson said the BEWU’s grievances extend to issues that are not covered by this agreement.

BPL, in an e-mail responding to Tribune Business inquiries, said: “BPL’s management continues to work with BEWU in good faith. Many of the concerns tabled by the union have been dealt with previously, adhering both to the law and the current industrial agreement that governs relations between us. The others are matters before the courts and BPL awaits those rulings.

“Nonetheless, BPL’s management is disappointed with the union’s decision to advise its members to ‘withdraw their enthusiasm’, primarily as BPL and the BEWU are engaged in regular meetings to identify and address concerns. Meetings were held as late as Friday to try to resolve issues amicably.

“BPL’s management maintains that our response has, and will remain, above board, and we will continue to operate in the best interest of the company’s stakeholders including our employees and the customers we serve.”

Mr Wilson, though, asked: “How could you address safety issues in an industrial agreement? It’s the public relations and spin they try to put on these things, but some of these issues have just arisen and are just coming up.

“Some of these issues we have been trying to resolve from the last administration. These are issues that were resolved in the industrial agreement but the company is not willing to pay out the cost of living, they are not willing to respect the industrial agreement as far as increments are concerned.”

Mr Wilson also charged that BPL has not established a Health and Safety Council, as required in the industrial agreement, and fresh issues have now arisen since the September 2021 signing. “There are tiles falling out of the roof, and the ceilings are falling down in some of the BPL stations. These things relate to health and safety. We can’t pinpoint every little issue, but these are issues that we have been trying to resolve,” he said.

“I have been trying to resolve some of these issues since under the former general manger’s tenure, Whitney Heastie, and I did resolve them in the industrial agreement. There is a pension scheme that the company is running that is not a part of the registered industrial agreement, yet still a government entity is saying that they have the power to do as they wish.

“They are finding loopholes to say that the executive signed for these things, or that we agreed with their leadership to do these things, and so our members will have to respect it.” The BEWU’s then-leadership allegedly signed on to the contributory pension scheme before Mr Wilson was elected president. The union has initiated legal action over the issue and the matter is currently before the courts.