Members of The Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU) are calling for the resignation of Gaming Board Chairman Dr. Andre Rollins who the union claims has been engaging in union-busting tactics.
During a press conference yesterday, BPSU President John Pinder made a number of charges against the chairman alleging among other things that the chairman had been intimidating and threatening current union representatives employed at the Gaming Board that they would be denied promotions unless they resigned from their respective positions with the union.
Further, Mr. Pinder claimed that under Dr. Rollins’ watch, retired people have been brought back to facilitate in training and other aspects of the Board.
Mr. Pinder said he and the union are now beyond reasoning with the chairman and are demanding that he either resigns immediately or that the prime minister fires him.
“We think that he [Dr. Rollins] doesn’t act in good faith, he’s not union-friendly at all an in fact, he acts like a dictator as far as I am concerned towards the staffers,” Mr. Pinder said. “There’s a lot of discomfort among the staff at the Gaming Board at this time. While there are two new kids on the block in terms of a new secretary of the board and a new chairman of the board, the chairman and the board ought to be able to cause there to be some level of comfort for the staffers.
“If the secretary is not acting the way he ought to, then they ought to ensure. But it cannot be this job of just to travel all around the world and spend thousands of dollars unnecessarily.”
The union claims that there have already been a number of employees who have been wrongfully dismissed and the BPSU contends that Dr. Rollins has continuously refused to meet to discuss the union’s issues.
Mr. Pinder pointed to Dr. Rollins’ run-in with Free National Movement (FNM) Deputy Leader Loretta Butler-Turner in the gallery of the House of Assembly Wednesday which resulted in Mrs. Butler-Turner slapping Dr. Rollins as proof of how provocative the chairman is.
“After speaking to Dr. Rollins on Monday, I recognise that nobody controls him, he does whatever he sees fit,” Mr. Pinder said. “That was further compounded by his actions in the House of Assembly [Wednesday]. If that is the way he’s going to do things to try to provoke people to cause them to embarrass themselves or get them into embarrassing situations, I don’t want that to happen to me.
“So give me someone who is more mature, who doesn’t think they know it all, who is prepared to be transparent and work this thing the right way and show good faith so that there will always be harmony in the workplace.”
