Hundreds of members of organizations which fall under the country’s two largest umbrella unions, stormed the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) headquarters on John F. Kennedy Drive in an attempt to have a fired Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) vice president reinstated.
After a meeting with BTC CEO Geoff Houston the night before, during which he refused to have Elizabeth Thompson reinstated, BCPMU President Talbot Collie said he had had enough of the back and forth.
None of the union presidents present would specifically say what action they would take if Thompson was not reinstated, but said they would do what they had to do. “We are looking for a reinstatement,” said Collie, flanked by various union counterparts.
Thompson, who was a senior manager in the legal department at BTC, was fired after spending four-and-a-half years at the company. In her dismissal letter, the company said it fired Thompson without cause and added that her continued employment would not be in the company’s best interest.
She was given a separation package and a letter of recommendation. The Guardian also understands that Thompson’s severance package was $56,000.
Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) President Bernard Evans led the hundreds of union officials and members crowded in BTC’s lobby in chants of “LIME got to go” and “Houston got to go”.
Caption: Resident of the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) Talbot Collie, with other union leaders and supporters in the lobby of BTC’s John F. Kennedy headquarters.
