Within a matter of months more than 135 employees of Nassau Flight Services are expected to benefit from a five-year industrial contract, which has been in negotiations for over a year, according to one union official.
The contract would affect all employees, excluding those at the supervisory and management levels.
Among the workers at Nassau International Airport who would benefit are those who work in ramp services, ticket checking and front door workers as well as other areas.
President of the Airport Airline and Allied Workers Union Nellerine Harding is hopeful that the negotiations for the contract will be concluded by the end of the summer.
Minister of Labour and Immigration Vincent Peet indicated during his Labour Day address in June that he expected to conclude the negotiations within a matter of days and said that only one minor clause in the contract was holding up the process.
The clause in dispute allowed for several “original” employees of the company to receive 84 weeks pay upon retirement, as opposed to the 52 weeks required by law.
“What we have outstanding with the agreement is that Nassau Flight Services has 16 original employees and four of them are bound by a clause that was stipulated in a previous industrial agreement,” Ms. Harding explained.
“The agreement stated that if you’re 55 by the year 1999 and if you had 10 years or more of service then you would be entitled to 84 weeks of pay rather than the 52 weeks.
“So now we have [the remaining employees] and this is the one matter that the Minister alluded to when he gave his Labour Day address. The union would like for the additional employees who joined Nassau Flight Services in February 1980 to be entitled to the 84 weeks in pay rather than the 52 weeks.”
Another aspect of the contract reportedly still outstanding is the new pay scale for the employees. However, Ms. Harding explained that as soon as tenders are in from the independent auditors the new pay scale should be established.
“We have already sent out tenders to all of the local auditing firms in [New Providence] for them to come and do a costing evaluation to place employees into salary groups,” she said.
So far the union president said she has been successful in securing an eight percent lump sum salary increase for the workers, who reportedly received two installments in June.
Ms. Harding added, “We did get a move on what has been outstanding for the past 15 years. The gas allowance will increase from $15 to $30 per week and employees [who] work in the aviation industry and work shift, premiums that were outstanding for the past 15 years would increase from 30 cents to 75 cents for day shift and from 40 cents to 95 cents for night shift.”
She added that during the final year of the contract a further increase for shift premiums would include $1.25 for day shift employees and $1.50 for night shift employees.
“If we were to get the 84 weeks for the employees along with the salary increase it would be a very reasonable and fair industrial agreement,” Ms. Harding said.
According to Ms. Harding, retroactive payments on gas allowance and shift premium should begin in another week or two.
Travel benefits for employees would include allowances of $55 for domestic flights and $80 for international travel per day.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
