The Bahamas Electrical Workers Union announced yesterday that it has beefed up industrial action in response to the Government’s failure to ratify an agreement between the BEWU and executives of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation.
Unionists are demanding that the Government move quickly to address a number of industrial issues, including a disagreement over a merit pay system. The contract that BEWU signed with management last year provided for the payment arrangement but it was never implemented, the union has claimed.
The union is also demanding that the workers’ pension plan be improved and that the corporation bring working hours in line with the Employment Act.
However, the union has promised the public that there will not be any power cuts during the upcoming holiday season.
This latest round of industrial action, which comes after last week’s nation-side sick out, will take a different form, the union said. Instead of demonstrations and sit outs, BEWU members have decided to take their plight to the people in the form of flyers, e-mails and faxes.
On Wednesday, union members took to the streets and handed out more than 5,000 flyers containing information on the union’s demands and the failure of its negotiations.
One of the flyers, labeled “web of deceit”, points to an increase in pay for the corporation’s managers.
BEWU Secretary General, Stephano Greene, who spoke on behalf of union president Dennis Williams, said that the union has decided to alert the public to the union’s plight, instead of allowing them to be misled by the Government.
“The Government, through its representative the Minister of Works and Utilities, chose for whatever reason not to ratify the agreement made between the parties. The union considers this unprofessional, as it is not within proper industrial relations,” Mr. Greene said at a press conference held at the union’s headquarters yesterday.
The union is calling on Prime Minister Perry Christie to intervene and have the agreement between management and the union ratified.
Mr. Greene said that the ongoing dispute at BEC has resulted in the employees working in “reduced enthusiasm” mode.
“The union is open for negotiations. We met with the Minister of Labor and Immigration Vincent Peet and he said the government is committed to settling our matter as soon as possible. However, we have had promises from the government in the past which resulted in us calling off industrial actions and going back to work, and to date nothing substantial has been confirmed to the union,” Mr. Greene said.
The beefed up action by the union will take a variety forms, he added, but for now the union will rely on getting its information to the public.
If matters are not resolved swiftly the union is prepared to go to the ultimate level, which will be a total work stoppage, Mr Greene warned.
The union said that taking its plight to the public has proven to be most effective, and claimed that Government officials have already asked them to stop their push to get their information out to as many people as possible.
According to Mr. Greene, the union has received numerous phone calls from the public who support BEC workers’ demands.
Agreements that were made by the union and BEC’s executives during negotiations included remuneration for the fourth year of the contract, 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.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
