The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

THE new president of the Bahamas General Workers Union has accused management at the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation of running a “secret” promotions exercise, as her newly elected team vowed to tackle years of unresolved grievances at the corporation.

Natania Johnson, whose slate won the union’s elections last Friday, said BAIC’s general manager and assistant general manager of human resources had carried out a round of promotions without ever releasing a list of who benefited.

“It was a secret operation. That should not be the case. It should be visible. It should be clear and transparent for everyone to see,” she said.

Ms Johnson said several promotions had been awaiting approval before former chairman Darron Pickstock left the post, but management then carried out a separate exercise without naming the successful employees. She said it was unprecedented for promotions at the corporation to be handled that way, and questioned who had authorised them.

She also asked why employees whose managers had recommended them for advancement were still waiting, and alleged that workers with personal or family connections continued to receive preferential treatment.

Her victory comes three months after she was on the losing side of a Supreme Court battle over control of the union.

The dispute erupted on December 17, 2024, when the late BGWU president Linda Sands dismissed five executive council members, including then vice president Dave Beckford. In a July 29 ruling this year, Acting Justice Raynard Rigby found that the union’s constitution gave the power to dismiss officers to the executive council as a whole, not to the president acting alone. He ruled in favour of Mr Beckford and the other ousted executives, and against Sands and Ms Johnson, then the secretary general.

Justice Rigby urged the union to end its infighting, which he said was not in the best interest of members, and to move quickly to hold nominations and fresh elections.

The leadership battle left the union with a legal bill of about $100,000, Mr Beckford said in August, when the executive council also withdrew the union from the Trade Union Congress, whose president, Obie Ferguson KC, had represented Sands and Ms Johnson in court.

Ms Johnson said the election was “more than a vote” and amounted to “a statement of confidence and a call for change”, citing strong turnout and saying it proved the union belonged to its members.

Her executive includes vice president Windsor Bethel Jr, of Eleuthera; secretary general Nathanya Bastian; treasurer Keisha Jones; trustees Kevin Moxey and Carla Forbes; and board members Tristan Deleveaux and Sheresa Nixon, of Cat Island.

Ms Johnson said the union’s grievances at BAIC included outstanding promotions, unpaid salary increments, delayed performance appraisals and allegations of victimisation and cronyism, many of which had gone unresolved for years.

“Employees should not have to repeatedly fight for what they have earned or live with uncertainty about their professional growth and future. Fair treatment and transparency and accountability must become priorities,” she said.

The union has complained for more than a year about pay at the corporation. In July 2025, Sands said BAIC workers had received only part of the salary increments approved since 2022 and had been without health insurance since October 2024.

Ms Johnson said the union would pursue its concerns with BAIC’s new board, chaired by Sylvanus Petty, and expected an initial meeting with management by early November. She said Mr Petty was more accessible and receptive to workers’ concerns than his predecessor, Mr Pickstock, who now serves as Minister of State for Immigration and Foreign Affairs.

She said a disciplinary warning issued to her also remained unresolved. BAIC gave Ms Johnson a “final written warning” in a January 2 letter, accusing her of disclosing confidential corporation matters when she appeared on a television programme in October 2025 to criticise management over outstanding payments and other workplace problems.

“That is also one of the items that will be addressed expeditiously,” she said.

The union also plans to negotiate a new industrial agreement to replace the one that expired in 2023, which Ms Johnson said remains in effect in the meantime. She said the executive would first consult members on the changes and benefits they wanted.