The Tribune

BY NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A SUPREME Court judge yesterday urged leaders of the trade union formed to represent Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) workers to rapidly cease “internal fighting” that sparked “years of instability” and undermined its “relevance”.

Acting justice Raynard Rigby KC called on members of the Bahamas General Workers Union’s (BGWU) executive council to now “move quickly” in setting dates for the nomination and election of new officers following his verdict on a dispute that splintered its leadership into two rival factions amid unproven claims of “a conspiracy.. to destabilise” the organisation.

His July 29, 2026, ruling on whether the president or executive council has the power “to suspend or expel” one of the latter’s members resulted in a total defeat for the BGWU’s late leader, Linda Sands, and Natania Johnson, the secretary-general. Acting justice Rigby instead found for their opponents, headed by veteran trade unionist Dave Beckford, the union’s vice-president; Brian Smith, the treasurer; Phillippa Dixon, assistant secretary general; and trustees Ivy Minnis and Richard Johnson.

Acting justice Rigby effectively conceded that power struggles, and fights for control, are a regular feature of the Bahamian trade union environment, with the interests of members often ignored and neglected during these spats. “Disputes do sometimes arise in the context of leadership of a trade union. Like any contest for control, there are factions that support one side as opposed to another,” he wrote.

“The executive members of a trade union have a duty to the membership of the trade union. They must remain true to the sacred purpose for which that trade union was formed.” And, to remain true to these goals, acting justice Rigby called for the BGWU’s leadership to get its act together and restore the harmony necessary to properly advocate for its BAIC line staff members.

“I cannot end this ruling without admonishing the main players in the union to quickly bring an end to the internal fighting that brought about the years of instability to the union,” the judge blasted. “The members should move quickly to set a date for nomination and election of officers. This is imperative if the union is to remain relevant in serving the needs of its members.”

The battle that split the BGWU leadership erupted just before Christmas 2024 when Mr Beckford and the four other members of his executive council group were all dismissed by the late president, Linda Sands, on December 17, 2024.

Mr Beckford and Mr Johnson were allegedly dismissed for violating the union’s constitution by not being current with his membership dues for “more than 12 weeks”, while Ms Dixon was removed for signing a document as “the secretary-general without authorisation”. Dismissal letters bearing the same date were also received by Mr Smith and Ms Minnis.

Ms Sands, in each case, cited that she was empowered as president by the BGWU’s constitution to dismiss the other executive council members - something they vehemently disputed. She and Natania Johnson sought multiple Supreme Court declarations upholding their actions and the dismissals, including that Mr Beckford, Mr Smith and Ms Minnis were “non-financial members” because of their alleged failure to pay union dues and therefore could not perform their executive duties.

“The central contention of the claimants is that the union's constitution affords unto the president the right to dismiss an executive member,” acting justice Rigby wrote. Evidence provided to the Supreme Court showed that the BGWU’s 2023 and 2024 financial statements were both “qualified” by their auditor, George Watson, although he was not called to testify at the trial.

The 2023 audit found that “no invoices or receipts were available” to support “a significant number of cheque” payments, while cash payments of union dues “except for one payment receipt could not be verified nor traced into the bank statements”.

The auditor concluded: “We were unable to gather sufficient audit evidence, in particular to cash disbursements, as a significant amount of the supporting documents were not available for examination, and verification of cash receipts and expenditures which comprise cash disbursements, over which there was no system of internal control on which we could rely for the purpose of our audit.”

The audit report for the year to end-December 2024 was a similar story, as the auditor found “support documents for a significant number of financial transactions were not available for examination”. The report concluded: “We were unable to gather sufficient audit evidence, in particular to dues income and cash disbursements, as the underlying supporting documents were not available for examination.”

Mr Smith, the treasurer, under cross-examination, conceded that the BGWU’s bank account was non-compliant with regulatory requirements, which prevented him from obtaining statements to allow the auditor to complete his work, but added that the union’s finances were still functioning.

Natania Johnson, in her evidence, detailed a February 7, 2025, executive council meeting where only herself and Ms Sands were present. At this meeting, they decided to replace Mr Smith as treasurer with Nathanya Francesca Bastian, and appoint Kevin Bradley Moxey and Loretta Monique Tomlinson as trustees. All three received their appointment letters the same day.

And, in seeking to justify the dismissal of Mr Beckford and his faction, Natania Johnson subsequently alleged they were all involved in “a conspiracy… to destabilise the BGWU” by attacking its leadership. This was accompanied by claims ranging from the freezing of the BGWU’s bank account by Commonwealth Bank’s Golden Gates branch to fears the union would be “de-registered” and allegations that cheques to pay Christmas bonuses to members were not being signed.

However, Mr Beckford and his group counter-attacked by alleging that Ms Sands’ mandate as president has expired due to her June 23, 2023, retirement from BAIC. And they argued that, as executive council members, the union’s constitution gave them “equal powers” that “nullify and/or cancel” those exercised by Ms Sands in dismissing them.

And acting justice Rigby, after reviewing the union’s constitution and respective powers of the president and executive council, agreed with Mr Beckford and his group that the power to suspend, expel or dismiss any officers, members or staff lay with the collective body and not the late Ms Sands.

Noting that the union’s constitution does not provide for a president, only a chairman, the judge wrote: “The chairman does not have the authority acting alone to suspend or dismiss any officer or member of the union. It is also my view that the constitution intended that the powers of the executive council be exercised by the majority of the members of the council….

“It is my view, and I so hold, that the constitution intended to vest the power to suspend or expel an executive council officer in the hands of the executive council and not the chairman. The constitution grants unto the chairman the power to act and to carry out the functions on the authority of the executive council. That is, the chairman cannot act alone but must act with the consensus of the executive council.”

As a result, acting justice Rigby ruled that all the dismissals of Mr Beckford and his colleagues were “foul of the constitution” of the BGWU. He also found that Ms Sands and Natania Johnson had failed to prove that Mr Beckford and Mr Smith were “non-financial” members of the union.