The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Telecommunications Company has pushed back against union claims of unsafe working conditions, saying independent air-quality tests found its Poinciana Drive facility fit for use and that no substantiated health complaints have been brought to management.

The response came a day after two BTC unions staged a protest alleging hazardous conditions, breaches of industrial agreements and unfair dismissals.

Executive senior manager for people, Tamica Colebrook, told The Tribune yesterday that BTC commissioned two independent air-quality assessments this year.

"Both of those reports came back with that building fit for habitation or occupation," Ms Colebrook said. "That building has not been fully online since the beginning of this year, and that's not because it's not fit. It is fit."

She said the Poinciana Drive building has operated under a hybrid work arrangement since June, with employees not required to be on site full-time. The facility remains in use, she said, because it houses BTC equipment and serves as a point of access for staff.

Ms Colebrook said a mediation meeting involving BTC, the unions and the Department of Labour had already taken place, allowing unions to outline concerns and agree on timelines for addressing them.

"Generally speaking, it just does not require Labour to intervene," she said, adding that BTC maintains what she described as open dialogue with its unions. "Not only with respect to health and safety matters but with all matters concerning their members and our employees' health and safety we take seriously."

Asked whether BTC had been alerted to specific health problems linked to the building, Ms Colebrook said management had received allegations but no detailed complaints.

"We need specifics in order to move, not speculation," she said, rejecting union claims that employees were dismissed for raising concerns. "That is not so. Every health and safety issue is investigate by the company and if a person brings up or speaks up, they are not retaliated against for speaking up. We have an entire platform from this company set up specifically where persons can speak up anonymously if they want to without fear of retaliation."

On union demands for the reinstatement of five employees dismissed in October, Ms Colebrook declined to address individual cases, citing privacy, but said BTC follows the law and its agreements.

"Every step that is taken with regard to our employees, we follow not only the local labour laws but in terms of the industrial agreement and company's policy and procedures," she said.