The Tribune

BY ANNELIA NIXON

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS Taxi Cab Union (BTCU) yesterday said the Government seems willing to resolve the long-running dispute with livery operators after what it described as one of its most productive meetings with a Cabinet minister.

Glenys Hanna Martin, minister of tourism, has raised the union’s hopes that planned industrial action threatening the country’s tourism industry may yet be avoided. Tyrone Butler, its president, said the minister acknowledged that years of weak enforcement had allowed the conflict between taxi and livery operators to escalate, as she committed to work alongside Leon Lundy, minister of transport, to ensure existing transportation rules are properly enforced.

“The meeting last week went very well,” Mr Butler said. “Probably one of the better meetings out of the ministers. We had a very positive meeting. She’s committed to some of the same issues that the transport minister committed to. Only I feel more confident that we’re going to get better response from her. As you know, she was once minister of transport herself.”

He added that Mrs Hanna Martin had already committed to follow-up discussions scheduled for tomorrow. Mr Butler said she pledged to raise the matter directly with Mr Lundy to ensure the Government adopts a unified position on the dispute, and also intends to engage the Bahamas Livery Drivers Union.

“She’s made a commitment to speak with the minister of transport to make him fully aware of exactly what the Government’s position should be,” Mr Butler said.

“She is also committed to calling the president of the livery association, have a conversation with them to advise them that under no circumstances they should be there [ Lynden Pindling International Airport].”

The BTCU has repeatedly argued that livery operators are improperly soliciting passengers at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) and major hotels, insisting that under existing regulations livery drivers should only transport customers with pre-arranged bookings while taxi operators retain the right to solicit fares directly.

According to Mr Butler, the tourism minister acknowledged the issue has been allowed to worsen over many years because authorities failed to properly enforce existing regulations. “She did admit that over the years they’ve allowed it to kind of get out of hand,” he said.

“But her position has been that all of it is really as a result of lack of enforcement, meaning that the Government, whoever was responsible for enforcing the rules, had not done a good job of enforcing the rules.”

Mr Butler said the minister accepted that government shares responsibility for the situation. “She accept that part of that is the Gopvernment’s fault,” he said. “But she say at the end of the day, it all rests with the lack of enforcement.”

The union president added that Mrs Hanna Martin also recognised the importance of resolving the dispute without damaging The Bahamas’ tourism product.

“She’s prepared to help bring some resolution to it,” Mr Butler said, adding that she also committed to addressing several other concerns the union raised regarding transportation operations at the Nassau Cruise Port while co-ordinating with the Ministry of Transport.

“She’s aware of that. And that is something she is trying to avoid because she believes that the tourists are really something that we should never seek to really damage or cause any unnecessary strain on that industry,” he said.

The meeting marks a shift in tone from the BTCU’s threats to escalate its campaign after claiming previous talks with government officials had produced little progress.

Last week, Mr Butler warned that taxi operators were prepared to “cause whatever chaos in the tourism industry” was necessary and withdraw services if the Government failed to stop what the union alleges is illegal competition from livery operators.

The dispute intensified earlier this month when taxi drivers temporarily blocked access to the international departures terminal at LPIA, accusing some livery drivers of unlawfully soliciting passengers and alleging baggage porters and Nassau Airport Development Company employees were directing customers toward those operators.

Following that protest, Mr Lundy pledged several reforms to reduce conflict between the two sectors. Despite those commitments, the BTCU has continued to press for stronger enforcement while placing its campaign under the leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

Mr Butler said the latest discussions have left the union more optimistic than at any stage since the conflict intensified.

“She [Mrs Hanna Martin] understands that, but she said it serves no good purpose, and that is why she is committed to try and do whatever she can to help move the process along,” he said.

“To her credit, I will say that I think the team that we took to the meeting left feeling pretty confident, and feeling pretty satisfied, that with the meeting itself and what was discussed, it felt like we would have got somewhere.”