By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Communications and Public Officers Union president Bernard Evans said yesterday that Thursday's meeting with Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) executives "did not produce results but was promising".

Mr Evans told The Tribune yesterday that the meeting, which was brokered by the Department of Labour, did not go as union members had hoped but they intend to meet on Tuesday to continue negotiations.

"We met as planned and both sides presented their arguments, no side would budge and it did not go as planned but we feel it was promising," he said.

"Nothing materialised and we could not agree on anything but I think we made the first step in the right direction. If not, one of two things could happen."

On Wednesday, Mr Evans said the meeting was an opportunity to discuss “sweetening” the voluntary separation package (VSP) offered to at least 150 workers.

Last week it was announced that BTC plans to cut between 150 to 250 jobs in preparation for competition. At the time, Mr Evans said the impending staff cuts were “shocking” and “insulting.” He said BTC employees were “distraught” over the rushed, “sneaky” way the company was handling the move.

The union filed an application for a strike vote with the Ministry of Labour on Monday. The application was submitted two days before BTC workers in New Providence and Grand Bahama staged reported sick outs in protest against the company’s job-cutting plans.