By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
AFTER three days of demonstrations, the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU) abruptly changed its tone yesterday offering apologies to Prime Minister Perry Christie and BEC Chairman Leslie Miller.
Speaking to The Big T, BEWU president Stephano Greene expressed his regret over comments he made to the media describing Mr Miller as ‘a dog needing a leash’. The unionists also made several demands of the government including that Mr Miller be
fired.
Mr Greene said: “I want to go on record as saying that I might have made some statements that were not in the best of taste by saying that the government ought to control their dog.
“I in no way or form want to show disrespect to Mr Miller or the government. We apologise for any inconvenience that it may have caused.
“We realise that there is a certain way that things should be conducted especially when we get to Prime Minister Perry Christie’s level. I apologise.”
Mr Greene’s attack on Mr Miller came on Wednesday, the second day of protesting at BEC’s main offices. He claimed Mr Miller was lambasting staff and acting as a tyrant by publicly announcing whom he would fire from the company.
He said the government may need to “put a leash on their dog and put him in line.”
The BEWU took their protests to the Superclubs Breezes Hotel at Cable Beach on Thursday. They demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Perry Christie, who met them later.
The industrial unrest has also led to a police probe into a power outage on Wednesday, said BEC spokesman Arnette Ingraham.
She said: “There was a generator trip at Blue Hills on Wednesday evening, April 3, 2013. To my knowledge, due to the heightened industrial climate at BEC, the Royal Bahamas Police Force was contacted to conduct an investigation.”
Mr Greene said that if the investigation found a union member was guilty of sabotage, they would be dealt with to the full extent of the law.
Operations at BEC were ‘back to normal’ yesterday.
Comments
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
PGC caved the overtime gravey train will continue at the expense of competiveness in tourism and as a yolk across the average bahamians back ..
wave 11 years ago
This is a joke, he's not sorry for anything. Yes CC PGC I'm sure has caved in and given them everything they wanted, based on his track record. Again, how is that PLP working for you.
USAhelp 11 years ago
I apologized now that you caved to our demands. More overtime please.
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
the yolk across our backs will continue for the benefit of about 500 votes ,,,the high electrical rates are also determental to our tourism industry ,,bring in SGI , Give these thugs there pension to go home ,not only will it be cheaper in the long run but its the human thing to do for the rest of the population ..
akbar 11 years ago
SGI! Folks go and do some research on floating power plant before you rush to accept such things. What is wrong with Bahamians once you have on a coat suit you can tell them hell is good for them and they would go stepping up in gasoline drawers. We need to focus on energy conservation and alternative forms of energy to supplement our grid. Bahamians always trying to reinvent the wheel. We in a worldwide energy crisis this is not unique to the Bahamas.
bismark 11 years ago
The Honorable Prime Minister,has made a grave mistake,by pandering to these unions,they were rude,disruptive and totally out of order.Aggression sometimes have to be used whether some like it or not,we all know the demonstration was mainly over their shift system,the greedy suckers just want overtime at our expense,if they want to strike,let them then fire all of their backsides and hire someone who wants a job,the carribean is full of experience,Bahamian people have to stop acting like somebody owes us a job and when things don't go our way we strike,we are only destroying ourselves and our fragile economy.
John 11 years ago
BEC is going broke because it has some greedy employees with large pocketsand empty egos. They want to line their pockets with the tax payers moneyin big salaries and overtime, and fill their egos by dicsonnecting consumers who are willing to come in and pay their bills (goff). When a consumer supply is disconnected the corporation loses money, but these ego-starved employees still collect fat paychecks and overtime...thats why they want to get rid of leslie miller.
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