Less than a month after Bahamasair and its line staff union signed a new industrial agreement, industrial tensions are already brewing at the national airline, resulting in flight delays.
Airport Airline and Allied Workers Union President Nelerene Harding yesterday filed a trade dispute with the Department of Labour, claiming that the airline is refusing to pay scores of flight attendants overtime pay due them.
As a result, Ms. Harding said the flight attendants are taking action, which essentially amounts to work to rule. She said they are working in accordance with the rules of their employment, are taking their lunch hour every day, which had not been the case in the past, and are refusing to work overtime.
Last night, Bahamasair General Manager Henry Woods told The Bahama Journal that the action is already causing flight delays.
Ms. Harding, who had not yet quantified the amount she said is owed to approximately 60 flight attendants, explained that the flight attendants are no longer being paid overtime on weekends if they work beyond their shift.
Itﾒs a situation, she said, the union will no tolerate.
"I see a company which outright does not respect the industrial agreement it signed three weeks ago," she said.
"Itﾒs a major breach and a violation of the industrial agreement. This is one of the reasons I always say that the lack of communication and the lack of trust between management and the union stem from things like this because no company and no union has the right to breach an agreement."
Ms. Harding said management failed to inform the union that it was holding back on the flight attendantsﾒ entitlement.
"I think [management] is well aware of what theyﾒre doing and weﾒre seeing that ugly monster appear that used to appear where management outright tries to breach the industrial agreement."
The union president said she wrote to both the minister of labour and the director of labour yesterday asking them to state whether collective bargaining in The Bahamas is still in existence and whether employers can do as they please.
Ms. Harding, who is herself a flight attendant, insisted that the new contract provides for the flight attendants to receive overtime pay on weekends as they had been receiving all along.
Earlier this summer, industrial unrest at Bahamasair came as the union and management continued to negotiate an industrial agreement, which was signed last month.
During the signing, all parties involved expressed relief that the contract had been signed and committed to working together in good faith.
On the matter of overtime, airline chairman Basil Sands said at the time, "[There is a] difference in overtime pay for years one and two based on the revised salaries for 419 staff in the bargaining unit [and an] increase in grooming allowances for 60 flight attendants."
Last night, Mr. Woods, the general manager, told The Bahama Journal that he was not at liberty to comment on the present dispute.
He said he had been off the island and was not fully up to date on the matter. Mr. Woods also told The Journal that he has forwarded the matter to the airlineﾒs board, which will make a decision.
He also called the issue of overtime pay for flight attendants "a gray area".
"Iﾒm not saying theyﾒre not entitled to it," he said. "Iﾒm not saying they are entitled to it. Itﾒs under review."
Mr. Woods also said there have already been some flight delays as a result of the flight attendantsﾒ actions. He said he was not sure whether the board planned to make a statement on the dispute, which comes during one of the airlineﾒs busiest travel periods of the year.
Ms. Harding said she expects continued delays as long as management refuses to deny the flight attendants weekend overtime.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
