The Tribune

BY Annelia Nixon

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) president yesterday said he has made good on his threat to sue the Government, and senior labour and investment officials, over assertions that he attended meetings and discussions over the severance packages for Grand Lucayan workers.

Obie Ferguson asserted that he has acted to preserve his credibility after a government-produced video recorded Phylicia Woods-Hanna, the Government’s investments chief and head of the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA), stating he had met with Howard Thompson, the Department of Labour’s director, and Bernard Evans, the chief labour consultant, over the resort’s recent terminations.

“Yesterday, I sued the Government,” Mr Ferguson said. “I sued all them yesterday...” He had previously warned he would sue for defamation of character due to the video allegedly implying he had agreed to unfavourable terms in the redundancy exercise that included 94 middle managers he represents through the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association (BHMA). 

“You see the people around this room,” he said at a press conference held with affiliate unions yesterday. “These are very highly credible people. If I'm found to be a liar or dishonest or not reliable to them, you think we would have what we have this morning? So they were served. The press was served with a notice to give me a copy of what happened, and we're going to work on that, and we'll keep you informed, because I think it's important. 

“These men are responsible people. They got families, they have membership, they have credibility. You lose credibility in me or I lose credibility in you, I ain't checking for you. So we got to try to be firm, but be honest and be accurate.

“Your credibility, that's all we have, you know. Credibility, honesty, character, that's what we have going for us. And we have somebody out there trying to undermine the movement, but they're not going to undermine this organisation no matter what they try, because we are in this together. If they hit one of them, they hit all of us. That's the way we function in this body.”

Following Mr Ferguson’s initial threat to sue, Mr Thompson, in a written response to Tribune Business, clarified that while the “director of investments asked Mr Evans and me to convene a meeting with Mr Ferguson”, a face-to-face meeting did not occur. He confirmed telephone discussions between them but said there were “no final decisions or agreements arising from those calls”.

Noting that he was on vacation, Mr Thompson said upon learning that he was being sued, “Mr Evans and I contacted Mr Ferguson directly to address the misunderstanding”. He added that they agreed that. once he returned from vacation, they will meet in person to bring the matter to a close “and during that time I will personally extend an apology to Mr Ferguson KC (whom I hold in high regard) for any miscommunication or misunderstanding”.

Mr Ferguson, however, insisted that he’s “not going to wait for them”. “I have everything to lose there,” Mr Ferguson said. “I'm a KC. I was just in court yesterday from Venezuela. You know how I got the job? On my reference. I don't know the people, but they look on it, and they check my record, and they hired me.

“In Ghana, a doctor. I don't know him. I know him now. So I'm saying to you, your character is what you have going for you. The day you lose that you don't have anything working for you,. You can be the smartest guy in The Bahamas. People don't trust. Trust is a serious matter. If I don't trust you, we got a problem.

“I understand he wants to apologise, but you think apologising to me is apologising to the Bahamian public? It's not done like that. Your reputation is all you have. I negotiated a deal for 94 people in Grand Bahama; 94 of them. They are in my union. So if you want to change that, let's call a meeting. Let's have a meeting. Let's discuss it. But they didn't do that. They said they met with Mr Ferguson. The court will take care of that.”