Unions representing employees at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) may have to wait until next year to find out if the injunction restricting them from work stoppages will be lifted.
Supreme Court Justice Bernard Turner told union chiefs that if he does not make a decision by December 23, it is unlikely that a decision will be made before the New Year.
Unions bosses for the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) and the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) had hoped that the injunction would be lifted last week.
But after hours of legal arguments from union attorneys, the case was adjourned without a ruling.
BTC secured an injunction against the unions last week after the BCPOU and BCPMU participated in illegal work stoppages while protesting the sale of 51 percent of BTC to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC).
The work stoppage shut down BTC’s retail and customer service centers, tremendously inconveniencing customers, who pay the workers salaries.
BTC attorney Tara Cooper-Burnside argued successfully that union leaders were both responsible for their members’ actions on December 7th. She said there was obviously some type of conspiracy and said there was reason to believe that industrial action would continue if the injunction was not continued.
