Although some of its most essential workers abandoned their posts on Thursday, the Airport Authority is adamant that crucial aviation standards were not compromised in yesterday’s work stoppage.
The industrial action was the latest to hit key government operations in the country. While some of the workers who participated in the sit-in claimed that their absence severely affected operations at the Nassau International Airport, the Acting General Manager of the Airport Authority Idris Reid insisted that no services were affected.
“The Authority took immediate steps to ensure that all international Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards affecting the operation of the NIA were maintained and no services were affected,” Mr. Reid noted in a press statement.
Mr. Reid branded the sit-in as an “illegal work stoppage.” Sixty Airport Authority workers in the Security and Maintenance Departments and Crash Fire and Rescue Division withdrew their labour.
The action, supported by the Bahamas Public Services Union was designed to draw more attention to several lingering issues like the correction of salary anomalies, pay increases and other terms and conditions of service.
The employees said they expected to have their salaries adjusted in November of 2002, claiming that management at the Authority had indicated that it would have paid the anomalies.
“If the money is there why haven’t we received it as yet ?” questioned Ann Marie Riley, a security guard. But in his statement, Mr. Reid made it clear that all of the Airport Authority employees except 11 workers had been given salary increases in May 2000, removing any anomalies. The BPSU had been advised to seek legal action on the issue.
During the brief sit-in that lasted only a few hours, Elvis Strapp, an employee in the maintenance department, said he wanted a quick resolution to the standoff. “We are sitting out only for now because operations at the airport have to continue,” Mr. Strapp said. “We don’t want to take too long with this exercise.”
He too wanted salary corrections. “The [adjustments] money was outstanding from November, but every month management just kept putting it off,” he said. “They then told us we would receive the money on our April payday which was on the 20th but they haven’t paid us yet.”
Emerging from the meeting with Airport Authority managers, BPSU President John Pinder said the parties were unable to come to an immediate agreement to the dispute. Nonetheless he advised the employees to return to work.
“What we will have to do now is send the correspondence we received from [the Airport Authority management] on to our lawyers for interpretation and we’ll now have to negotiate with the Minister of Finance so that you can receive the [anomaly correction] money that is owed to you,” Mr. Pinder said to the airport employees.
Mr. Reid said regardless of the “illegal action” taken by the workers, the Authority remains committed to negotiating in good faith and will wait for the BPSU to obtain legal opinion on its position relating to the salary anomalies exercise.”
By Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
