The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

TWO unions representing employees of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) took their grievances public yesterday, staging a joint protest and calling for government intervention over what they say are unsafe working conditions, persistent breaches of industrial agreements and the dismissal of five employees without due process.

The demonstration, held outside BTC’s Poinciana Drive office, brought together the Bahamas Communications Public Managers Union (BCPMU) and the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), after union leaders said months of internal efforts to resolve the issues had failed. 

BCPMU president Kendrick Knowles said the action reflected growing frustration among staff who feel management has repeatedly ignored contractual obligations and basic workplace standards.

“We have come to the point where we cannot take any more of the violation, disrespect and inhumane treatment that we are getting from the management at BTC,” Mr Knowles said.

He accused the company of disregarding key provisions of its industrial agreement, including grievance procedures, acting allowance payments and health and safety requirements. He said employees were being required to work in buildings that were never designed for prolonged human occupancy, citing poor ventilation, a lack of fresh air intake and ageing infrastructure.

“Here is a building that is over 50 years old. This building was never designed for human occupation at the level that it is right now,” he said. 

“It has no windows. It has no clear fresh air intake and ventilation for employees to be in.

”He said similar concerns had been raised at multiple BTC facilities, including the Perpall Tract location, and alleged that employees had fallen ill at a contact centre where air was being recirculated without proper ventilation.

“They are circulating the same air in the building, and it is making our employees sick. It is not safe. It does not meet the health standards,” Mr Knowles said. 

According to Mr Knowles, the Department ofLabour and a government consultant had previously cited BTC for violations during a mediation meeting, but management had failed to act on those findings. Beyond safety concerns, he said BTC had terminated employees without following the disciplinary procedures outlined in the industrial agreement.

“They have just gone ahead and terminated employees without giving them an opportunity to defend themselves,” he said.

“The employees did not even know that they were being accused of doing anything wrong. They got a letter of termination.”

BCPOU president Sherry Benjamin said the protest was not about wages, but about basic workplace dignity, fairness and safety.

“We are not out here fighting for money. We are out here fighting for a decent workplace,” Ms Benjamin said. 

“We are here fighting for the right to have a workplace to come to work in a safe environment, one that does not make you sick, one that does not stress you out emotionally and physically.”

She said BTC had repeatedly breached industrial agreements over the past two years, adhering to their terms only when it suited management.“What is the purpose of signing an agreement if you are not going to adhere to it?” she said. 

She said the unions were demanding, among other things, the reinstatement of five employees dismissed on October 2, warning that the terminations had created fear and anxiety among remaining staff.

“We want those employees who are unjustly terminated back on the job,” she said. 

“We do not need the current employees suffering from fear and anxiety as to whether or not they are next.”

She said health and safety problems extended across BTC facilities nationwide, particularly on the Family Islands, describing buildings with leaking roofs, nonfunctioning bathrooms and broken air conditioning systems.

“Just about every building that BTC has staff in, the air conditioning does not work, simple bathrooms do not work, roofs are leaking,” she said. “In some areas, roofs are open where you can see the sky when you are working inside those buildings.”

Ms Benjamin said technicians in some locations were forced to use bushes or ask residents to use their restrooms because workplace facilities were unusable. She also cited cases where employees and contract workers became ill while working in poorly ventilated buildings, alleging that management failed to respond adequately.“

Instead of them taking responsibility, they started cutting them,” she said. 

Both union leaders called on Prime Minister Philip Davis to intervene, pointing to the Government’s 49.2 percent ownership stake in BTC.

“This company carries the name of this country. This is the Bahamas Telecommunications Company,” Mr Knowles said. 

“It has to be for the benefit of Bahamians.”

Ms Benjamin said the unions had exhausted internal channels before taking their concerns public.

“When we have to step out, know that we have done everything that we possibly can to keep it on the inside,” she said.

She warned that deteriorating morale was affecting service delivery, noting that employees were also the company’s customers.

“Happy workers make happy customers,” Ms Benjamin said. 

“With the way the morale is in BTC right now, you are not getting it.”

The unions said their protest would continue until concrete action is taken to address safety concerns, enforce industrial agreements and reinstate the dismissed employees.