The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A TRADE union yesterday accused the Customs Department of failing to plan for leadership succession, arguing that the re-hiring of retired officers has left qualified serving employees unable to advance through the ranks.

Derron Brooks, president of the Bahamas Customs, Immigration and Allied Workers Union (BCIAWU), said the agency has created a “glass ceiling” for officers who have spent decades building their experience and qualifications but remain unable to move into senior management positions because retired personnel continue to occupy those posts.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr Brooks accused Customs of not having a succession plan to prepare serving officers to take over senior positions when their predecessors reach retirement age.

“We've seen no evidence of a succession plan, and the excuse that the superintendents are not ready to go to the next level is unacceptable. That's an indictment on you. What did you do?” he asked.

Mr Brooks said the union believes between 14 and 16 officers who have surpassed the mandatory retirement age remain in middle and upper management positions, preventing serving Customs personnel from advancing into vacancies they are qualified to fill.

He argued that officers approaching retirement should have identified and trained potential successors at least a year to 18 months before leaving, allowing younger personnel to gain the experience needed to assume leadership responsibilities. Instead, he said, the continued re-engagement of retired officers has left qualified employees waiting years for opportunities to advance.

“Someone turns 65 on Saturday. On Monday morning, they will be back to work. We cannot understand why that happens when there's capable officers that could have been promoted to fill those positions in every rank,” said Mr Brooks.

He said the union is not necessarily calling for the retired officers to be dismissed, but wants them moved out of uniform management positions and reclassified as civilian consultants who could continue mentoring and training serving personnel.

“We have nothing against them. They didn't hire themselves. They're persons we worked with. You know them. You came up under them. You love them. We have nothing against them, but we believe they could be reclassified to civilian consultants who are not uniformed,” said Mr Brooks.

He said the situation has also contributed to inadequate promotion opportunities, with the union estimating that around 120 or fewer promotions were released in the Customs Department during the most recent exercise.

Mr Brooks said that figure represents less than a third of the promotions the union believes should have been made based on the Department's size, while some officers have remained in the same rank for more than 10 years.

He said officers who reach their salary proficiency bar cannot advance further financially until they are promoted, meaning some have effectively remained on the same salary for years. “I know what that feels like. I was stuck in one rank for 16 years, so I know what these persons are feeling,” said Mr Brooks.

The union’s executive vice-president, Trevor Rolle, said the recent promotion exercise did not see any superintendent advance to the next rank, which he attributed to assistant controller positions being occupied by re-engaged officers.

“During that small exercise, we would have had no superintendent that would have moved up to the next rank, and that's simply because of the re-engagement of these officers,” said Mr Rolle.

Kevin McKenzie, a chief Customs revenue officer, who said he has been in his current position for nearly ten years, was more pointed in his criticism of the department's succession arrangements. He said serving officers have the experience and ability to take on greater responsibilities but are being denied opportunities while retired personnel remain in management positions.

He also alleged that he had received multiple letters of supersession without being given an explanation for the decisions. “A letter of supersession is when a junior officer supersedes a senior officer. Now the process is they supposed to tell you why you're being superseded. They have never done that to me,” Mr McKenzie said.

Customs officer Winifred Linden also accused the Department of stripping serving assistant controllers of their powers, duties and responsibilities to accommodate re-engaged contract workers.

“Persons have waited years to come to the place of leadership, only to be now told that they are to sit back and sit small for the contract workers,” she said.

Ms Linden questioned whether the retired officers have legally-binding contracts and called on the Government to address the matter, arguing that serving personnel had the qualifications and experience to lead the department.

Alma Poiter Sands, another Customs officer, said the prolonged stagnation had affected the workforce's motivation despite decades of service.

“We have lost our drive because of the stagnation that is going on in this organisation,” she said. Ms Sands said many officers had served for more than 35 years and questioned why they were still being denied opportunities to lead the department.

“We've done well. We've served well. We've collected revenue. We are passionate about this Department,” she said.

Mr Brooks said the union had previously met with Ralph Munroe, the Customs controller, to raise concerns about the number of promotions being released, but maintained that the subsequent promotions have not been sufficient.

He said the union has matters before the courts relating to the issue and will allow those proceedings to take their course, declining to comment further on the cases.

The union is urging Mr Munroe to increase promotions and allow qualified permanent and pensionable officers to fill available positions rather than continuing to rely on re-engaged personnel.