The Tribune

BY ANNELIA NIXON

TRIBUNE BUSINESS REPORTER

anixon@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS National Alliance Trade Union Congress (BNATUC) has urged the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union (BTCU) to return to the negotiating table with livery operators to resolve their escalating dispute, but taxi union president Tyrone Butler has flatly rejected the appeal, insisting livery drivers must first comply with the law.

Belinda Wilson, BNATUC president, said yesterday that the union remains convinced there is a workable path forward for both taxi and livery drivers and called on the BTCU to resume discussions with the Bahamas Livery Drivers Union.

Her appeal comes as tensions between the two sectors continue to threaten disruption to the tourism industry, with the BTCU having renewed its threat of industrial action over the presence and operations of livery drivers at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA).

“The Bahamas Livery Drivers Union is an affiliate of the Bahamas National Alliance Trade Union Congress,” Ms Wilson said. “Last year, the BNATUC attended a series of meetings with livery and the taxi unions. We met with stakeholders from road traffic, NAD, the airport authority, and we discussed the concerns of both unions.”

She said a steering committee was subsequently established with representatives from the BNATUC, Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), Road Traffic, the airport authority, the taxi union and the livery union.

According to Ms Wilson, the committee was presented with a written proposal from the Bahamas Livery Drivers Union aimed at improving the transportation system and addressing concerns raised by both industries. The proposal included colour coding to distinguish taxis from livery vehicles, the establishment of a help desk and call-up system, designated parking spaces, greater Road Traffic oversight and NAD greeters, among other measures.

“This proposal was to assist with the improvement of the transportation sector,” Ms Wilson said.

She said the discussions continued when the BNATUC and livery union met with former Transport and Energy Minister Jobeth Coleby-Davis, where they raised concerns including the oversaturation of the transportation industry. Ms Wilson said the BNATUC believed progress was being made until the taxi union indicated that it would no longer participate in discussions if livery operators remained at the table.

“The BNATUC was of the view that we were making strides to address the concerns, but the taxi union informed that they will not continue any further dialogue once livery is at the table,” she said.

“We are still of the view that the proposal is workable, and there can be a win-win for taxi and livery to make a living to feed their families.”

Ms Wilson is now appealing directly to the taxi union to reconsider its position.

“So I appeal to the taxi union to come back to the table with livery, and let’s continue to discuss, review, and amend the proposal as necessary,” she said.

“The BNATUC and the Bahamas Livery Drivers Union, we are prepared to meet, and we are willing to work together to ensure the best for both unions, and by extension, the transportation industry and an improvement in our tourism product.”

But Mr Butler dismissed the appeal, arguing that the BNATUC should instead be telling its affiliate to comply with existing laws governing airport operations.

“Ms Belinda Wilson, what she should do actually is advise her affiliate member to follow the law,” he said. “She should start there instead of inviting the taxi drivers to come and sit with her member, who doesn’t have no legitimacy at the airport, to come and work out an arrangement for them to be given privilege.”

Mr Butler maintained that the BTCU has no interest in negotiating an arrangement that, in his view, would legitimize livery operations at the airport without the necessary legal authority.

“She’s asking the wrong union for that privilege,” he said. “So she could start by just respecting the law, and asking her client or affiliate member just respect the law before we could even talk.”

Mr Butler said the issue is particularly personal for him because he was previously part of the same umbrella organisation before the taxi union moved to the Trade Union Congress.

“When I first became president, I was part of that same umbrella, and that was one of the main reasons why we left and went to the Trade Union Congress because nobody’s going to ask us to sit with people who have no legal standing,” he said. “Livery drivers was never gazetted to work at the airport.”

He challenged Ms Wilson to instead ask her affiliate to suspend its airport operations until the legal framework changes.

“If Belinda Wilson want to talk about sitting, tell her just sit her people down until the law provides for them to be out there hustling,” Mr Butler said.

His rejection comes against the backdrop of a broader dispute over an alleged agreement reached between the Government and taxi operators earlier this month. Mr Butler said the BTCU met with the Transport Minister on August 5 and reached a compromise, questioning why the Government has not implemented what he said was agreed.

“What is there for us to speak with?” he asked. “We had a meeting on the fifth of August with the minister, who came out of the meeting and did not tell the livery drivers what we agreed. We already made a compromise on August 5, you know.”

“So Belinda Wilson should go to the minister and ask the minister why not honour what you all agreed to on the fifth. She can start with that also, rather than asking us to speak with them.”

The disagreement underscores the widening divide between the taxi and livery sectors, with the dispute increasingly becoming a test of how the Government regulates competing transportation services at the country’s main gateway.

Mr Butler also rejected any suggestion that the BTCU should compromise on what it considers to be the legal rights of its members.

“Is she kidding?” he said. “Is she now part of this whole group of prominent people who is all too willing to aid and abet in people breaking the law? Because that’s what her people are doing, breaking the law. So she’s on the wrong side of the law. We’re on the right side of the law.”

The BTCU has previously warned that it has exhausted its patience with the Government and does not see a resolution without industrial action. The Trade Union Congress has also pledged its support for taxi drivers, raising concerns that any industrial action could have significant implications for tourism and airport transportation.

The Ministry of Transport has maintained that the two sides should meet, negotiate in good faith and reach a mutually acceptable agreement, while the livery union has disputed claims that it was included in an agreement reportedly reached between the Government and taxi operators.

For Mr Butler, however, the immediate issue remains legal compliance.

“But at the end of the day, you know, it’s all about who respects the law,” he said. “Belinda, of all people should know about respecting the law because she’s the very one always beating the government down. Want the government to respect them, respect their rights. What about our rights?”