Are BTC employees in a losing battle with the government
thenassauguardian editorial
Employees of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) went on the offensive on Tuesday, as a sign of their disagreement with government’s move to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Cable & Wireless in relation to the sale of a 51 percent stake in BTC. The protest action on Tuesday, in which BTC employees paraded around the company’s head office on JFK Drive, brought flashbacks of what happened when ZNS workers tried to fight government’s downsizing of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas.
Also familiar is BCPOU President Bernard Evans, who was unsuccessful in his fight for ZNS employees against the government. It seems strange that after losing that battle not so long ago, union members are still confident that Evans can get them the kind of results they seek.
Evans is the same and his fight is against the same foe to which he lost, the Government of The Bahamas. We saw how the ZNS fiasco turned out. Will this BTC fight be any different?
It should be noted though, that a significant difference in this fight is that President of the Bahamas Christian Council Rev. Patrick Paul, and newly-elected President of the National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson, have jumped on board with BTC from the get go.
This battle could turn out to be a much bigger fight for the government than ZNS was.
When it comes to BTC who knows what to expect? Reports suggest that Tuesday’s action was just the beginning of what could end up being a massive national strike involving various unions. Yesterday the BTC employees were at it again, this time with a motorcade through the streets of New Providence, and a mass rally at the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union Hall, at which representatives of various unions were on hand to give their support.
The prime minister stared down Bernard Evans, called his bluff and won a battle without even unholstering his gun during the ZNS fiasco. With Evans at the helm of the battle with BTC, Prime Minister Ingraham may be looking for history to repeat itself.
12/9/2010
thenassauguardian editorial
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Showing posts with label Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson. Show all posts
Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
The National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas (NCTUB) endorses the multi-billion dollar Baha Mar project
UNIONS ENDORSE BAHA MAR
By KRYSTEL ROLLE
Guardian Staff Reporter
krystel@nasguard.com:
Reversing its stance on the controversial Chinese labor issue surrounding the multi-billion dollar Baha Mar project, the National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas(NCTUB)yesterday endorsed the project, saying the benefits outweigh any difficulties the union had.
Initially NCTUB threatened to hold massive demonstrations if the government approved Baha Mar's bid to bring in approximately 5,000 Chinese workers the mega resort says it needs during the project's construction phase.
However, during a news conference yesterday, NCTUB President John Pinder acknowledged that The Bahamas does not have the capacity nor the skill set to construct the project without the help of foreign aid.
"After further consultations with Baha Mar officials we got all of the concerns we had addressed and we're satisfied that this project is in the best interest of this country,"he said during the news conference which was held at the Bahamas Public Service Union headquarters on Wulff Road."We are further satisfied that we do not have the skill set to do this project all on our own."
Pinder said the issue with work permits can be a serious revenue generator for the government.
"It's proposed that Baha mar may ask for as much as 5,000 work permits, but at no time will there be 5,000 Chinese workers,"Pinder said."We are told that they will maximize the use of Bahamian workers qualified to work on this project and the semi-skilled persons. We have asked that these positions be made known to us so persons could apply for various positions."
"Work permits will cost Baha Mar an average of$5,000 per work permit... we believe this is a golden opportunity for the government to raise some revenue to be able to ensure that unions are able to get some sort of increase for our membership,"he continued.
The union also hopes that the government would consider using a percentage of the $5 million it stands to bring in from work permit fees to expand and redevelop the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute(BTVI).
Pinder said the key to the union's endorsement was the assurance by Baha Mar officials that Bahamian workers will receive first preference during and after the construction, and that Baha Mar will train Bahamians in some of the more modern techniques that are currently not widely used in the country.
NCTUB Assistant General Secretary Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson said the union in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, BTVI and The College of The Bahamas would ensure that workers receive on-the-job-training.
She said the union would be working closely with Baha Mar personnel to hack out the details of the training exercise.
"Our main job is to ensure that workers receive cross training. This is a good opportunity to train our workers,"Dotson said."Every time a large project comes, we say we don't have the skilled workers. I think it's now time to put our money where our mouth is."
Dotson added that the union's initial concerns also had to do with the lack of consultation both the previous Christie administration and the current Ingraham administration had with the union on the project.
"We need to be involved more at the ground level,"she said, adding that the union will be present on the day the government brings the issue to Parliament.
Leader of Government Business in the House of Assembly Tommy Turnquest confirmed that the Ingraham administration intends to bring the labor resolution to Parliament on September 8. Turnquest said the MPs would be allowed to express their views on the labor issue before the government makes a final determination.
If a majority of MPs take issue with that component, he said the government would have to take that into consideration prior to making its decision.
Pinder said the union is hoping that the government and the official opposition will give the necessary approval for the project.
Turnquest said publicly that at the height of construction Baha Mar could have up to 8,000 foreign workers on the project.
Dotson said it would also be the union's job to protect the rights of the Chinese workers. Yesterday the union pledged to make every effort to do that if the work permits are granted.
Baha Mar has said that out of the 10,000 proposed construction jobs the project will create, at least 3,300 will be set aside for Bahamians. Eight thousand permanent jobs are also projected once the resort is completed.
The proposed Cable Beach development would be financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and constructed by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation.
If the project receives Bahamas government approval, Baha Mar's first course of action would be to award nearly$60 million of construction contracts to six Bahamian contractors, representing early infrastructure works needed to prepare the site, Baha Mar's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sarkis Izmirlian said in a press statement last month.
9/2/2010
thenassauguardian
By KRYSTEL ROLLE
Guardian Staff Reporter
krystel@nasguard.com:
Reversing its stance on the controversial Chinese labor issue surrounding the multi-billion dollar Baha Mar project, the National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas(NCTUB)yesterday endorsed the project, saying the benefits outweigh any difficulties the union had.
Initially NCTUB threatened to hold massive demonstrations if the government approved Baha Mar's bid to bring in approximately 5,000 Chinese workers the mega resort says it needs during the project's construction phase.
However, during a news conference yesterday, NCTUB President John Pinder acknowledged that The Bahamas does not have the capacity nor the skill set to construct the project without the help of foreign aid.
"After further consultations with Baha Mar officials we got all of the concerns we had addressed and we're satisfied that this project is in the best interest of this country,"he said during the news conference which was held at the Bahamas Public Service Union headquarters on Wulff Road."We are further satisfied that we do not have the skill set to do this project all on our own."
Pinder said the issue with work permits can be a serious revenue generator for the government.
"It's proposed that Baha mar may ask for as much as 5,000 work permits, but at no time will there be 5,000 Chinese workers,"Pinder said."We are told that they will maximize the use of Bahamian workers qualified to work on this project and the semi-skilled persons. We have asked that these positions be made known to us so persons could apply for various positions."
"Work permits will cost Baha Mar an average of$5,000 per work permit... we believe this is a golden opportunity for the government to raise some revenue to be able to ensure that unions are able to get some sort of increase for our membership,"he continued.
The union also hopes that the government would consider using a percentage of the $5 million it stands to bring in from work permit fees to expand and redevelop the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute(BTVI).
Pinder said the key to the union's endorsement was the assurance by Baha Mar officials that Bahamian workers will receive first preference during and after the construction, and that Baha Mar will train Bahamians in some of the more modern techniques that are currently not widely used in the country.
NCTUB Assistant General Secretary Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson said the union in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, BTVI and The College of The Bahamas would ensure that workers receive on-the-job-training.
She said the union would be working closely with Baha Mar personnel to hack out the details of the training exercise.
"Our main job is to ensure that workers receive cross training. This is a good opportunity to train our workers,"Dotson said."Every time a large project comes, we say we don't have the skilled workers. I think it's now time to put our money where our mouth is."
Dotson added that the union's initial concerns also had to do with the lack of consultation both the previous Christie administration and the current Ingraham administration had with the union on the project.
"We need to be involved more at the ground level,"she said, adding that the union will be present on the day the government brings the issue to Parliament.
Leader of Government Business in the House of Assembly Tommy Turnquest confirmed that the Ingraham administration intends to bring the labor resolution to Parliament on September 8. Turnquest said the MPs would be allowed to express their views on the labor issue before the government makes a final determination.
If a majority of MPs take issue with that component, he said the government would have to take that into consideration prior to making its decision.
Pinder said the union is hoping that the government and the official opposition will give the necessary approval for the project.
Turnquest said publicly that at the height of construction Baha Mar could have up to 8,000 foreign workers on the project.
Dotson said it would also be the union's job to protect the rights of the Chinese workers. Yesterday the union pledged to make every effort to do that if the work permits are granted.
Baha Mar has said that out of the 10,000 proposed construction jobs the project will create, at least 3,300 will be set aside for Bahamians. Eight thousand permanent jobs are also projected once the resort is completed.
The proposed Cable Beach development would be financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and constructed by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation.
If the project receives Bahamas government approval, Baha Mar's first course of action would be to award nearly$60 million of construction contracts to six Bahamian contractors, representing early infrastructure works needed to prepare the site, Baha Mar's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sarkis Izmirlian said in a press statement last month.
9/2/2010
thenassauguardian
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEB) members need a serious reality check
UTEB members need serious reality check
tribune242 editorial
WITH desperate parents having to transfer their children from private schools to an overcrowded public school system where there is now no room for them, we get news that members of the College of the Bahamas' teachers union are still not comfortable with their salaries.
At a time like this when hard working Bahamians -- who do not have the luxury of long summer vacations as do teachers -- are struggling to make ends meet and are forced to adjust to the realities of a tight economy, we have teachers, who should be leading by example, bleating about dissatisfaction with their own salaries. Where is the College to get the funds -- raise the fees of struggling students? These teachers should be thankful that they have a job - many Bahamians today are jobless, while others are out on the highway flashing phone cards for sale -- anything to make a few dollars to keep body and soul together. In the meantime, these elite teachers with full job security have the nerve to complain that they do not have enough.
"We feel like the salary package they have offered us really doesn't show us any respect as professionals," one union source told a Tribune reporter yesterday.
"It doesn't respect the work we do. We are talking about the persons who are educating the people who are driving national development.
"We think it really insults us what they have offered us and that they should rethink their position."
We wonder who was disrespecting contractor Charles Nottage who in better times could afford to send his daughter to a private school. Today he is faced with the reality that he can no longer afford this luxury for his child. Mr Nottage told The Tribune that for the past four years his daughter was in a private school. He dreaded the thought of having to move her to a government school, "but it is a necessity right now," he said.
However, he still does not "know what to do" because government schools are so overcrowded that he can find no place for her even there.
How are hard working Bahamians, who at present cannot afford to send their children to private schools, going to find the funds to pay teachers for higher education? If the COB union says the College Board is disrespecting its teachers, then who is respecting Bahamians like Charles Nottage who cannot afford private education for his child?
To make this statement about disrespect shows that these teachers have no sensitivity to the times in which we all live. They must be on a planet of their own creation. And yet people, like Mr Nottage, are willing to face reality and step down until conditions in the country change to give them an opportunity to again start their upward climb.
These are the hard working Bahamians who adjust to hard times and will survive. Those with the attitude of some of these teachers will be left floundering in their own importance. Eventually they get nowhere.
Earlier in the year the College announced that it could not agree to the demands of the Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEB), which would amount to an average increase of $11,500 per faculty member.
The union had demanded a reduction in workload for its teaches with an increase in pay ranging from 16 per cent to more than 19 per cent, for a total salary increase of 17.5 per cent.
The union seems to have something backward here. Business people are accustomed to paying more for more work -- not more for less. These teachers had better be sent back to school to get their maths in the right order. "The union's $11 million financial package would immediately add $8 million to the College's already overstretched budget and over $3 million annually thereafter," the College said.
The matter went to arbitration with both sides agreeing that they would accept the arbitrators' decision.
The arbitration committee, headed by St Matthew's Anglican Church rector Father James Palacious, said that neither side of the dispute would get exactly what they wanted.
However, when it came to UTEB's financial package, said the arbitrators, it would have been "very reasonable under normal circumstances," however in the end the committee had to adhere to the "economic reality." The committee referred to budget cuts and a still struggling economy. The teachers did not get what they wanted.
Despite this in today's Tribune UTEB president Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson has announced, unless the union gets a signed agreement, it is reserving its right to take a strike vote on Monday when COB is scheduled to open after the summer recess. Do they not have a signed agreement because the salary packet offered fails to show the respect they think their due? Have they rejected it?
Should they strike and create chaos for students on Monday, the College should be closed for a week with no pay for teachers during this time so that they can get a glimmer of what the arbitrators meant when they said they would have to adhere to "economic reality."
We do not think that many Bahamians -- other than some politicians, who appear to be looking for any unrest upon which to capitalise -- will have any sympathy for Mrs Dotson and her UTEB.
August 20, 2010
tribune242 editorial
tribune242 editorial
WITH desperate parents having to transfer their children from private schools to an overcrowded public school system where there is now no room for them, we get news that members of the College of the Bahamas' teachers union are still not comfortable with their salaries.
At a time like this when hard working Bahamians -- who do not have the luxury of long summer vacations as do teachers -- are struggling to make ends meet and are forced to adjust to the realities of a tight economy, we have teachers, who should be leading by example, bleating about dissatisfaction with their own salaries. Where is the College to get the funds -- raise the fees of struggling students? These teachers should be thankful that they have a job - many Bahamians today are jobless, while others are out on the highway flashing phone cards for sale -- anything to make a few dollars to keep body and soul together. In the meantime, these elite teachers with full job security have the nerve to complain that they do not have enough.
"We feel like the salary package they have offered us really doesn't show us any respect as professionals," one union source told a Tribune reporter yesterday.
"It doesn't respect the work we do. We are talking about the persons who are educating the people who are driving national development.
"We think it really insults us what they have offered us and that they should rethink their position."
We wonder who was disrespecting contractor Charles Nottage who in better times could afford to send his daughter to a private school. Today he is faced with the reality that he can no longer afford this luxury for his child. Mr Nottage told The Tribune that for the past four years his daughter was in a private school. He dreaded the thought of having to move her to a government school, "but it is a necessity right now," he said.
However, he still does not "know what to do" because government schools are so overcrowded that he can find no place for her even there.
How are hard working Bahamians, who at present cannot afford to send their children to private schools, going to find the funds to pay teachers for higher education? If the COB union says the College Board is disrespecting its teachers, then who is respecting Bahamians like Charles Nottage who cannot afford private education for his child?
To make this statement about disrespect shows that these teachers have no sensitivity to the times in which we all live. They must be on a planet of their own creation. And yet people, like Mr Nottage, are willing to face reality and step down until conditions in the country change to give them an opportunity to again start their upward climb.
These are the hard working Bahamians who adjust to hard times and will survive. Those with the attitude of some of these teachers will be left floundering in their own importance. Eventually they get nowhere.
Earlier in the year the College announced that it could not agree to the demands of the Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEB), which would amount to an average increase of $11,500 per faculty member.
The union had demanded a reduction in workload for its teaches with an increase in pay ranging from 16 per cent to more than 19 per cent, for a total salary increase of 17.5 per cent.
The union seems to have something backward here. Business people are accustomed to paying more for more work -- not more for less. These teachers had better be sent back to school to get their maths in the right order. "The union's $11 million financial package would immediately add $8 million to the College's already overstretched budget and over $3 million annually thereafter," the College said.
The matter went to arbitration with both sides agreeing that they would accept the arbitrators' decision.
The arbitration committee, headed by St Matthew's Anglican Church rector Father James Palacious, said that neither side of the dispute would get exactly what they wanted.
However, when it came to UTEB's financial package, said the arbitrators, it would have been "very reasonable under normal circumstances," however in the end the committee had to adhere to the "economic reality." The committee referred to budget cuts and a still struggling economy. The teachers did not get what they wanted.
Despite this in today's Tribune UTEB president Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson has announced, unless the union gets a signed agreement, it is reserving its right to take a strike vote on Monday when COB is scheduled to open after the summer recess. Do they not have a signed agreement because the salary packet offered fails to show the respect they think their due? Have they rejected it?
Should they strike and create chaos for students on Monday, the College should be closed for a week with no pay for teachers during this time so that they can get a glimmer of what the arbitrators meant when they said they would have to adhere to "economic reality."
We do not think that many Bahamians -- other than some politicians, who appear to be looking for any unrest upon which to capitalise -- will have any sympathy for Mrs Dotson and her UTEB.
August 20, 2010
tribune242 editorial
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