By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
The Government has been urged by the union leader representing Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) line staff to reduce the dividends it takes from the company to save jobs, as he told Tribune Business: “They can’t just sit idly by”.
Bernard Evans, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) president, said: “I think that the Government must weigh in on this.
“They can’t sit idly by and say they don’t have any power to do. The Government says that it owns a 51 per cent economic interest in the company. Why doesn’t the Government consider, instead of getting the profits it’s used to, cut its profit down to maintain jobs.”
BTC in February announced that it planned to cut jobs to reduce its operational costs in preparation for mobile competition.
Its chief executive, Leon Williams, said previously that the company anticipates it could lose 30 per cent of its customer base or one-third of its revenue when a second mobile communications provider enters the market.
Mr Evans, however, offered a different take. “I don’t think that’s accurate,” he told Tribune Business.
“They can say that they anticipate a loss, but the point is when you’re making record profits as the monopoly, it would only mean that you’re going to make less profit; you’re not going to realise the kind of profits as before.
“They seem to suggest that because they’re not going to be recognising the kind of profits they’re used to, they are going to have to send people home to maintain that profit margin, so they can get the kind of bonuses they want at the expense of hardworking Bahamians.”
Mr Evans added: “If it was a situation where they recognised that they couldn’t hardly make payroll, then you could offload. When you know for a fact that you could take a 20-30 per cent hit, the only thing going to be impacted is the level of profit.
“You’re just used to making a particular kind of profit because you’re the only game in town, and that’s going to be impacted when competition comes. From them to maintain their profit margin or bonuses they would rather send 100-150 persons home and that is sad.”
Comments
DonAnthony 8 years, 11 months ago
Mr. Evans seems confused, contrary to his belief we do not live in a socialist country. I have a suggestion for Mr. Evans since he is so concerned about these workers, take his salary and give it to BTC so one job can be saved. It is easy to be generous with other people's money, let him lead the way and donate his income.
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