The Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) yesterday filed an

industrial trade dispute with the Department of Labour against the Bahamas

Telecommunications Company Limited (BTC) as the company continues  downsizing. 

In a  press  release issued last night, The BCPOU noted that BTC has failed to bargain in good faith and to  renew the Industrial Agreement which has been expired for twenty (20) months.

The statement  said, “BTC is in violation of the collective bargaining agreement and in breach of section 41 (1) (2) (3) of the Industrial Relations Act, Chapter 321”.

This past Tuesday Union President Dino Rolle said “enough is enough,”adding that the mission statement appeared to be “cutting expenses rather than growing revenue”. 

Mr. Rolle said, “the Officers of the BCPOU have demonstrated extreme patience with the CEO and executives of BTC and we came to the bargaining table in good faith. What we’ve received in return are excuses and delays. The livelihood of our members is at stake and we must remain steadfast and ensure that their rights are protected.” 

He added, “the proposals that BTC have submitted for consideration are unreasonable in

this economic climate.  They are expecting to run a corporation by cutting costs at

the expense of the staff”.

In addition to the delays with the renewal of the Industrial Agreement, Mr. Rolle outlined a number of issues “crippling the morale of staff at BTC

which include: delayed payments to staff for approved and worked overtime; the

increase in the hiring of foreign labour, particularly in the Retail, IT and Finance areas,

in an attempt to make the roles of his members redundant, and; the breach of the

Purchase Agreement by CWC with BTC’s attempt to close the local Call Center and

ship those Bahamian jobs overseas”.

Mr. Rolle  urged BTC to develop and present  “a sound corporate

strategy that outlines a plan to invest in the technological infrastructure of the

Bahamas to grow company revenues”. 

He added, “this thoughtless approach of cutting costs

on the backs of Bahamians to maintain a company is myopic and is not sustainable,”

Mr. Ricardo Thompson, President of the Bahamas Communications Public

Managers Union (BCPMU) also spoke out placing his support behind  the efforts of his sister union,  noting that the BCPMU will soon follow suite. 

Mr. Thompson said, “the current leadership at BTC must embark on a mission to rebuild the company and create an environment that his members would be happy to be a part of while maintain its profitability.”