The ongoing dispute between the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU) and executives of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) is now in the hands of the Industrial Tribunal, following weeks of intense but futile negotiations.
But the announcement was met with resistance from union officials who warned the Government that there would be “great political fall out” from the decision.
“It is clear that there is very little progress being made to resolve the outstanding matters,” Minister of Labour Vincent Peet told the press yesterday during a meeting at his East Hill Street office.
“It is also clear to Bahamians that there have been several disruptions of electrical services throughout the country, and as there is no definitive resolution to date I have decided to refer the dispute – in the public’s interest – to the Tribunal, in accordance with the provisions of the law regarding essential services.”
Minister Peet explained that as a consequence, all parties would be restrained from engaging in any industrial action – a strike or lockout – that would result in “undue hardship” to the public.
The contentious issues include remuneration and a salary increase for the fourth year of the contract, the completion of a salary administration study, an examination of pension benefits to bring them in line with what other corporations are receiving, and addressing the issue of the absence of a safety manager at the corporation.
The referral also means that neither the Minister nor the Department of Labour can make any further comment on the dispute.
“The Tribunal would then be seized of this matter and it will then be up to the Tribunal to move as expeditiously as possible to deal with this matter,” Minister Peet said.
“If any further industrial action occurs after the referral then certainly legal consequences will follow.”
Yesterday’s announcement came only a day after the BEWU announced that it had beefed up its industrial action in response to the Government’s failure to ratify an agreement between workers and management.
Union members took to the streets on Wednesday, handing out more than 5,000 flyers that outlined the union’s demands and the failure of its negotiations.
Minister Peet said that he was sorry that the matter could not have been resolved by now.
“All efforts were made from the Ministry and the Department of Labour to resolve this issue. We have been engaged in this for some time, trying to bring the matter to a head. At some point we appeared to be making progress, at another point progress ceased,” he said.
“And so once there is an impasse – which there clearly is – I am obliged by law to do what I’m doing in the public’s interest. This is an essential service. There is major public inconvenience; there is great national interest, great concern that this matter be resolved so that normal operations can resume and the public can be assured of a reliable supply of electricity.”
Minister Peet added that it was always preferable to resolve such issues by going to the Tribunal, as has been the case with the vast majority of industrial disputes in the country.
“We have diffused quite a few industrial matters, but this one, like one or two others, is very difficult and once you reach this stage the law provides for this referral,” he said.
But BEWU president Dennis Williams did not agree with Government’s decision to refer the dispute to the Tribunal. He said that officials are making the wrong move.
“All the Government has to do is ratify the agreement that BEC has with the union. Also, this is not a trade dispute but a general dispute and so we don’t see where the Tribunal can make a ruling,” Mr Williams said
“We feel that this is only an attempt to prevent lawful industrial action. I am just going to ask each and every member of the union to register to vote immediately because there is going to be a great political fall out between the Government and the union, and we will not back down.”
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
