The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

THE Registrar of Trade Unions has rejected claims by the United Artists Bahamas Union (UABU) that a rival musicians’ union is operating outside the law, confirming instead that the Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union (BMEU) is in compliance with trade union requirements.

Registrar Yolantha Yallop said the BMEU does hold a valid compliance certificate, directly contradicting assertions made by UABU that the union was not entitled to issue letters of support for foreign entertainers seeking to work in The Bahamas.

The UABU on Wednesday had accused the Department of Immigration of allowing foreign entertainers to perform in the country in breach of established work permit policies, and questioned the use of letters of support issued by the BMEU.

At a press conference, UABU representatives said their concerns were linked to Immigration’s December 2025 policy requiring all short-term work permit applications to be submitted at least 30 days before the intended start date, a policy the union said it supports.

UABU executive Linc Scavella said the union conducted its own investigations into the entry of foreign entertainers and identified what it described as two troubling cases.

He cited a concert featuring Jamaican artistes Beres Hammond and Tarrus Riley, saying the promoter obtained a letter of support from the BMEU.

Mr Scavella claimed that under the Trade Unions Act, registered unions must submit annual returns by June 1 each year to obtain a compliance certificate, and alleged that the BMEU had failed to meet those requirements — a claim disputed by the Registrar.

“The promoter should not have gone to that union in the first instance,” Mr Scavella said.

He said UABU raised its concerns with Prime Minister Philip Davis and Minister of Immigration Alfred Sears, expressing dissatisfaction with how foreign entertainers were being processed.

Mr Scavella further alleged that some foreign artistes entered The Bahamas “under the disguise of tourists” before performing.

He also referenced a “Back to the 90’s” concert featuring Alison Hinds, claiming he was told performers were already in the country hours before the event.

“They told me they would pick me up and we would go and sort out the immigration permits,” Mr Scavella said. “I told them, ‘You ain’t picking me up to do nothing.’”

He said he contacted Immigration and forwarded information, but the event proceeded.

“I was told that a member of the Prime Minister’s Office said he would get the work permit for these people, and the concert went on,” Mr Scavella said. “I don’t know how it happened, but it should not have happened.”

Mr Scavella claimed UABU has documentary evidence of non-compliance, though none was presented at the press conference.

“Well, Immigration, we have the receipts. I’m a former secretary general of that union, and we have receipts that Immigration, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Labour, all of them have the same receipts that we have because a member of that organisation gave it to them,” he said.

“What we are saying is, why go to a union that is not legitimate, and if they are, let them prove it. We want the Minister of Labour and the director of labour and or the Registrar of Trade Unions to say otherwise,” he said.

Mr Scavella said UABU has no objection to foreign entertainers once the law is followed.

“For the record, we love all artists. We don’t have any problem with the artist coming in. As a matter of fact, when they come in legitimately and they pay their levies, we have an obligation to protect them as we protect our own,” he said.