BEC Chairman Leslie Miller
UNION president Stephano Green was warned that he will be fired from BEC if he insults chairman Leslie Miller one more time if strike action is initiated by union members.
The threat, issued by Mr Miller himself outside Parliament yesterday, is the latest salvo in the war-of-words between the chairman and the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union over BEC employees “double-dipping” on medical benefits.
Mr Miller said: “If Greene goes on a wild strike at BEC, infringes on the Bahamian people and puts them in dire straits by turning off lights, Mr Greene will not be at BEC after that, he will not be there.
“I want him to know I’m gunning for him for these threats that he continues to make on the lives of the Bahamian people.
“He will be dislodged from BEC and go find a job elsewhere and I’m prepared to pay his first two weeks salary whatever person hires him – but he wouldn’t be to BEC.”
He added: “If anyone is sick they will receive one set of pay, BEC pays the full salary. It don’t take a genius to figure out you should only get one salary. They will be paid their normal salary and they would go to NIB and give us the cheque or we will take it out of their cheque that’s what everybody does in this society.
“Greene knows this I don’t know what game he is playing, or trying to show off like he is some big kid on the block. His job is at stake too.”
He added: “This man has called me a dog. The next time he does it, he will be dismissed from BEC for insulting the chairman. I have nothing against Mr Greene or any one else, but you must have a conscience. You must appreciate that no one should get double pay for being sick.”
In an interview with The Tribune on Monday, Mr Greene described conciliation talks with the government over the decision to discontinue the practice of allowing unionists to collect sick benefits from NIB in addition to their full salary for the period that they are not on the job, as “fruitless”.
He said the union was prepared to turn up the heat on its threat to take legal and industrial action against the government, stating that workers were “ready to withdraw labour”.
However, Mr Green said the union would give Prime Minister Perry Christie a chance to override Mr Miller’s decision before taking legal or industrial action.
News reports yesterday quoted Mr Greene as saying an employee contacted him from the hospital with concerns about medication costs if changes are made to the current structure.
But Mr Miller insisted this claim cannot be accurate.
“There is no one on BEC staff that is now on dialysis in any hospital in this country,” he said.
“If BEC goes on strike, we have a contingent of men. We have about 60 of them from Grand Bahama that are ready to come up here tomorrow to do what has to be done. We have a crew in Miami.
“We appreciated some time back, this guy been rattling and going crazy now for the last year or so, and we’re ready for him.
“We will bring over a contingent of men, up to 200 from Miami and with two hours notice they will be here that same night and we will have the light restored. Those that participated in the wild cat strike will be dismissed, totally, especially Greene.
Comments
B_I_D___ 10 years, 5 months ago
Go potcake...go potcake...go potcake!! Hey...I back you man, I think the unions are out of order in this respect.
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 5 months ago
Yes, if only the prime Minister would exercise a firm hand when called for, if only he could pick an area, take few weeks to get a handle on the operations and then weed out the inefficiencies... Mr Miller isn't right all the time, but this type of operational review is what we need everywhere!!!! Cut out the wastage, hire productive people.
Mr Greene needs to go back to Union School.
P.S. Mr Miller please ensure that the men on the white chargers are well taken care of and that their possessions are not bothered with
bismark 10 years, 5 months ago
That's right Mr Miller,fire his ass!!and anybodyelse who wants to strike,the Bahamian PUBLIC is sick and tired of those greedy cocksuckers down at B.E.C ,this foolishness was going on for too long and nobody wanted to put them in line,they mess up all of your appliances when they intentionally cut peoples light off,if they don't want to work fire them and get somebodyelse in there who could appreciate the job,half of them who probably making all the damn noise probably even ain qualified for the job they have,next stop they need to sort out some,not all of those thiefin suckers down at customs and the crooks at immigration who selling out our birthright.Mr Miller may not be perfect but he sure has my support and many others on this,the Prime Minister needs to taKE A PAGE OUT MR MILLERS BOOK, we might actually get something done in the country.
Emac 10 years, 5 months ago
Rory, never thought about that one. You are absolutely right! In some cases the ramifications of these types of actions can be life threatening .
JohnDoe 10 years, 5 months ago
If doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity, then expecting people whom we reward for misbehaving to change that behavior is more than a little naive. This can be applied to Miller and Green. Today we praise Miller for the manner in which he confronts the unions, but behold, tomorrow it may be you, your spouse, your daughter or son that he confronts in a similar manner. The fact is the union's position, though distasteful, is not an illegal one and is widespread throughout the civil service. They did not grant these benefits to themselves. We should be mindful of the words of John Donne, who wrote "No man is an island, entire of itself.....therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee". Projecting our anger only at the unions, would seem to me, to be a little short sighted. If we are really serious, we should be demanding an accounting of all persons and consultants who are currently receiving full salaries and benefits from government who are also receiving full pensions. This dollar amount would make the amounts in question here look like chump change.
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 5 months ago
I like the comment as well.
My praise for Leslie Miller is solely on the following: for actually working, for not taking money for an oversight position and just glorying in his fancy title, new car and office as everything beneath him goes to hell. For addressing what could turn into a very messy situation and not being afraid to do so.
My comments are (I believe, stand to be corrected) always tempered with the fact that he is not perfect, far from a saint and he could use a better approach when dealing with people. Because as much as I like what he is trying to do, I'm pretty sure his approach is (partially) contributing to the tension.
That said I appreciate what he is trying to do in this circumstance. give me another situation where the union has legs to stand on and I will speak up for them. So far I haven't seen it.
JohnDoe 10 years, 5 months ago
@This is Ours, you have always struck me to be a reasonable person so I will put this simple scenario to you. Suppose when you arrived to work this morning, your boss came to your desk and shouted, "the company can no longer afford your salary so effective immediately I am cutting your salary and vacation benefits by 50% and if we ask me about it I will fire you". How would you react to that?
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 5 months ago
@JohnDoe, There's a difference, my salary is in my contract, according to Mr Gibson and the info in the Today's editorial, this double dipping "practice" is written nowhere. It's just a slack unethical process that's gone on unregulated for years.
If people consistently arrive late to work for example, the fact that no one says anything doesn't make late arrival company policy. If one day the employer says to a worker you came in late today I'm giving you a verbal warning, next day a written warning, then another written warning. The employer then has the right to fire that person for violating company policy.
From Mr Gibson's statement, it's clear that there's been a misinterpretation by the union regarding the terms of the contract. Mr Miller clarified the terms with his memo. Let the employees be guided accordingly.
(btw I'd be interested to know if the practice was restarted at NIB after Algernon Cargill was removed. He apparently did the same thing Mr Miller is doing now)
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 5 months ago
And isn't that funny, before Algernon Cargill's arrival, NIB employees were receiving full pay covering remuneration for sick days and at the same time claiming sick benefits from NIB.!!!!??..now that's some serious....
JohnDoe 10 years, 5 months ago
Good points from both of you. It is just so strange how this government operates. The PM is silent and the DPM said he supports Miller but even as he is giving that support he is distancing himself from Miller.
IloveBahamas 10 years, 5 months ago
I couldn't agree with you more JohnDoe. Well said!
John 10 years, 5 months ago
The reason why the union is slow to take action is they know what they are doing is wrong. They know the public is fed up with their behavior. The public is fed up with the high electricity bills. The public is fed up with the many disconnections that saw some of their supplies being cut off every 2-3 weeks so that Stephano Green's greedy goons can make $25.00 to disconnect them and turn them back on when they pay. They are fed up to know that Stephano Greens money-hungry, greedy goons were taking home $120,000.00 for just disconnecting and re-connecting your lights. They are even more fed up to know that besides the double dipping, the excessive overtime and the other benefits and despite BEC losing over $20 million dollars this year, the money hogs ate BEC were paying themselves bonuses in excess of $1 million..and the company broke and the country broke...NO EMPLOYEE AT BEC EVER felt a day of the recession..not ever ever. AND regardless of what agreement exist between BEC and the union, once wrongdoing is uncovered and it contravenes the laws of the Bahamas, it must be stopped. If the police finds you have a plot to murder someone or rob a bank, they don't say well since that is what he planned, let us wait until he commits the murder or robs the bank before we arrest him, they stop you in your tracks before any more wrong is done...So who are the dummies who are saying "let the double dipping continue until the contract runs out or until a new one is signed? How can you say it is ok for them to continue to double dip, but it is not ok for them to leave my lights on until I find enough money to pay my bill after I send my grandchildren off to college and pay for their weddings..all five of them? ^ ^
In the age of social media, an employee or customer with a cell phone can be a company whistle-blower, choosing to trigger a media story and investigation. The consequences of not being ready, conducting a flawed process or being defensive can be more damaging to the company’s reputation than the original allegation. A company’s actions are now always one step away from going viral.
bruceba 10 years, 5 months ago
The threats of terrorism will dis-allow the union leader from ever visiting the USA. The criminal acts will hurt our country.
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