With tensions rising and threats of industrial action imminent, Prime Minister Perry Christie stepped him in the fray a bid to stave off any possible action.
Mr. Christie met with several union heads on Friday to discuss a number of outstanding issues that have been plaguing the civil servants from customs and immigration officers’ medical insurance coverage to police officers’ 12-hour shifts.
In an interview with the Bahama Journal on Saturday, National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTUB) President, Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson said the meeting went “very well.”
“He has given an undertaking to do some things, so we will wait to see what will happen in the next few weeks,” she said.
“The prime minister told us that he’s going off the island along with the minister of labour [Shane Gibson], so we will wait to see what happens once they return. I don’t want to say anything more than that for right now. We will see what they do and if they do nothing, then we will have to meet with our members and decide our course of action.”
Sitting in on the Friday’s meeting were officials from the Airport Airline and Allied Workers Union (AAAWU), the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU), the Police Staff Association (PSA) and the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT).
“Obviously, we’re hoping for the best,” said BUT President, Belinda Wilson who was off the island during the meeting. “The meeting with the prime minister was the first step in the right direction.”
But despite the optimism, BUT members remain on work-to-rule.
The teachers union has a number of gripes.
According to a release issued last week, the BUT’s concerns include changes to its medical insurance plan “without consultation,” new teachers not being paid a salary since August, teachers being mistreated and victimized and the health and safety concerns relative to Stephen Dillet and Uriah McPhee Primary Schools.
Mrs. Isaacs-Dotson had been calling for a meeting with Mr. Christie for weeks.
Union leaders are upset with the government, which they feel has been ignoring their concerns.
The NCTUB recently slammed the Christie administration for not sticking to its campaign promises, adding that unions were responsible for the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) landslide election victory last year.
