80 percent of Bahamas Customs Officers have filled out the necessary application in order to receive dues just days following the announcement made in The House of Assembly (HOA) by Labour Minister Shane Gibson that they would be paid in the near future.

Less than a week after the offer was thrown out and the process he says is going well.

“80 to 90 percent of customs officers who actually signed the form requesting the payments, I’m not sure of the percentage of immigration officers but customs officers signed them in large numbers,” he said.

“We were trying to have the payments made this month but unlike in the past when we just paid everyone across the board we have to actually have the Treasury Department input each one, one at a time rather than just doing it across the board.”

Mr. Gibson said would cause a bit of a delay, but persons decided to complete the forms anyway.

He further stressed that the process was decided following claims that a number of Bahamas Customs and Immigration Allied Workers Union (BCIAWU) members were forced to sign a petition.

Last year September BCIAWU President Sloane Smith revealed over 1,200 Customs and Immigration workers were allegedly owed almost $3.8 million by the government.

Most recently Mr. Smith also alleged that his workers were forced by the government to sign the petition that also called for his removal.

Mr. Gibson has since then denounced that claims and is suggesting that when a President is elected moving forward that members choose someone who would negotiate on their behalf and not hire someone else to do so.

“When I was a union president, I never ever came to the table with a lawyer. I never ever went to court to try and negotiate a contract, I always sat around the table, but this generation they don’t come to the table without a lawyer, they have no mind of their own,” he said.

“They have no negotiating skills so I guess it’s very difficult for them to negotiate on behalf of their members so I guess that’s why they hire lawyers and pay lawyers big bucks. Monies are now used to pay legal feels.”

The communication in HOA noted that payments should be made in the employees’ next pay packet or no later than March 29, 2017.