This came as more than 200 irate BEC workers gathered yesterday at the Clifton Cay Power Plant to protest what they described as failed contract negotiations.
BEC management yesterday blamed the outages, which began around 9:00am yesterday, coinciding with the start of the demonstration, on the union and some of its members.
A statement from the corporation said that some of the members went unauthorised onto the Clifton Pier Power Station compound, locking the gates behind them, preventing authorized persons from entering the compound.
“These persons then tampered with the equipment at he Clifton Pier Power Station, BEC management claims union behind power problems which resulted in generators shutting down and led to the power outages throughout New Providence,” the statement said.
However, Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU) Secretary General Stephano Greene denied this but said that BEC workers would not hurry to correct the situation while they are in the process of demonstrating against an “insulting” pay offer from the corporation.
“It is against the law to turn off the power and the union does not turn off the power but if there are problems in the system and the power is going off then that is the management’s problem because it is management’s responsibly to ensure that the power stays on.
“We asked all of our union members to be stationed out here on Clifton Pier and we have some members who would go to work anyway but we are not responsible for anything that is going on out there,” he said.
The negotiations between the corporation and union had degenerated to the point where a mediator, (religious con man) Neil Ellis, had to be called in.
The catalyst for yesterday’s demonstration was the presentation, by the corporation, of the amount of increase it would be willing to give the workers for a 40-hour work week.
This issue, Mr Greene said, affects at least 900 of the union’s members and while not willing to disclose the amount offered, because of the gag order placed on both sides, he said that it did not even come close to five per cent of what the workers feel they are actually owed.
“Our members decided that it was an insult and they wanted to show the government that they were not going to be insulted in the way that they were and decided that they would have a mass demonstration at Clifton Pier Power Station,” Mr Greene said.
BEC called the BEWU’s action “an illegal and unwarranted industrial action”.
It also pointed out that even after the Minister of Labour and Immigration, Shane Gibson, ordered the BEWU back to work, many of the employees have not yet returned to their jobs.
“The corporation always tries to say that we are demonstrating illegally but the Employment Act and the Industrial Relations Act gives us the right to demonstrate when we are not satisfied with the progress of negotiations or when we feel we are not being treated fairly.
“The union members decided as a democratic group that they are going to have a demonstration and they are going to come out here and sit out and show government and management that they are insulted by their offer,” Mr Greene said.
Nevertheless, the secretarygeneral said that the mediation meetings are successful, especially with the smaller issues, because it is showing that the corporation’s senior management is “not performing and functioning properly”.
“What I am experiencing is that the mediator is embarrassing the top level of the corporation because the mediator is telling them that the corporation is wrong and their stance is wrong and unfair. It is showing them that their hard-line tactics when it comes to resolving serious issues are wrong.
“I am happy for this process because for months and months we were sitting at the table telling the corporation the exact same thing,” he said.
Management agreed that the vast majority of the union’s issues were resolved.
However, it said that the BEWU’s demand of $9 million in back pay without legal basis or justification is unaceptable.
In the meantime Mr Greene said that the union will be agitating for the resignation of top level management at BEC.
By RUPERT MISSICK Jr, Chief Reporter, The Tribune
