Internal bickering is continuing in the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union and spilling into the public domain as the union’s May elections move closer.
Five of the union’s executive board members, who have formed themselves into what is known as the, “I for justice team”, have accused senior board members of violating the union’s constitution in various ways.
But it’s a claim the union’s 2nd Vice President Lloyd Cooper has dismissed as an untruth.
However, Lionel Morley, a member of the executive board in Grand Bahama, said one concern the “I for justice team” has is that senior members borrowed several million dollars without proper approval from the board.
“Early in March 2005, there was an outcry of some $5 million being borrowed without the approval-from the executive board members,” Mr. Morley said.
“We have publicly advocated that the president come forward with answers, and we tried to do it first by going to them.”
Mr. Morley claimed that his requests and the petitions of other board members were denied.
“We had a meeting and they invited everyone but the rock and sand for a pre-emptive programme to run a riot act on us to make it appear as if we had done something wrong,” he said.
“They have tried to put all of us in a compromising position. They claim they’ve given us homes, and a number of things. For that they expect us to back down. They prefer to rule by dictation and not by consensus. They prefer to rule with an iron fist.”
Mr. Morley further claimed that the senior members treat the union as an exclusive club and they appear not to have any trust in the younger board members.
“They seem not to be able to grasp the concept that the union is an organization that belongs to the members, inclusive of us,” he said.
Explaining the borrowing of the $5 million, Mr. Cooper, the 2nd vice president, said 12 members of the executive board initially voted to borrow $3 million.
He said seven members later approved an additional $2 million.
Mr. Cooper explained that union president, Pat Bain, was ill at the time and apologized for any appearance of disrespect, as no further board meeting was held due to his illness.
But disgruntled board members have persisted in their claims.
“We had a lot of breaches of the constitution,” Anwar Taylor, another executive board member, said. “We had more than 200 signatures requesting a special call meeting and they’ve never had it. So they told us if we don’t like what they’re doing then we know what to do, meaning that they do as they wish.
“I believe it is like Animal Farm. It started out with all members being equal. But afterward we saw in the end that some were more equal than others. There is a lot of disrespect.”
Raymond Wright, another board member, claimed that there is “a turnaround from what the union’s philosophy really is.”
He said the approaching elections have fueled division.
“We’ve been denied the privilege of having contact with the members,” Mr. Wright claimed. “I’ve been placed on office duty for months now and only available to answer phones. We realize this is coming up to election time. There are a lot of things that are going to come up that would cause dissension among us.”
Basil McKenzie, the union’s assistant treasurer, said the president and others on the executive committee have taken the union “completely away from the membership.”
“These guys take the union as their personal thing and no one can question them about anything,” Mr. McKenzie said.
He claimed that when the executive board members questioned senior members during a meeting about the $5 million “everything went haywire.”
But Mr. Cooper took exception to many of the claims made by the members.
“If someone wants to talk, then talk the truth,” he said. “You don’t need to assassinate anyone’s character just because you’re coming up for election.”
By: Daphne McIntosh, The Bahama Journal
