By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

AROUND 140 people at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) will be made redundant next week, when the corporation begins their “callous,” “first round” of downsizing, according to Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) Secretary General Dino Rolle.

Yesterday, Mr Rolle told The Tribune that BTC advised both unions representing line staff and upper management that come Tuesday, June 30, the company intends to make a number of departments redundant. Mr Rolle said the news angered union members and strike action is “very possible.”

“This means that all of those employees will be let go,” Mr Rolle said. “Based on the numbers we were given, that is more than 140 persons. So our next step is to have a joint membership meeting and advise members of their rights then take their instructions and see how it goes.”

“The number of how many people would be let go has been floating around for a while but we never received anything specific from management. Sometimes they were in the hundreds and sometimes it was lower. However, in a letter today, they confirmed almost 150 and also indicated that this is only the first round,” he added.

Mr Rolle said BTC executives were “cold” and “callous” and did not seem to care that persons’ lives are being affected. He said it was a slap in the face that union officials “just had a meeting with management on Monday” but were not informed of the layoffs at that time.

“Everything was supposed to be on the table,” Mr Rolle added. “We did not expect to meet with them one day and then get a call the next day that our members would be separated in 36 hours. Walking through the halls was so heart-breaking. The mood is sombre, everyone is sad. It is very possible that strike action will be coming. Sitting in that meeting and seeing how hurt and infuriated everyone is, I would not be surprised if the members walk out,” Mr Rolle said.

The Tribune understands that some of the areas to be affected include some retail stores, billing departments and directory publications, among others. BTC has advised the union that the employees impacted by the planned layoffs come from areas that have been identified for outsourcing.

BTC has reportedly advised government that it anticipates union and employee backlash from the redundancies and will increase security at its locations as a result.

In February, it was reported that BTC has plans to cut between 150 to 250 jobs in preparation for competition in the mobile phone sector.

As a result, the union filed an application for a strike vote with the Ministry of Labour. The application was submitted two days before BTC workers in New Providence and Grand Bahama staged reported sick outs to protest the expected lay offs.

Earlier this month, BCPOU President Bernard Evans, said morale was low due to the way BTC was handling the issue. At the time, he said, BTC had left employees in limbo as they awaited their fate over looming layoffs.

“This has been the most painful, disgusting, poor exercise,” he said previously. “The morale of the staff – it’s as if you have a noose hanging outside the window and everyone is just watching you, don’t know when they will pull the gallows.

“They’re asking the union to act responsibly. You know of the disruption we’ve had, trying to bring to bear our concerns. We’ve staged sick-outs and everything short of a strike because we can’t frustrate the public; we have a duty to provide service. At the same time, they’ve taken advantage of our good nature and it’s almost shameful that in this time of the year and in this time of this country when there aren’t jobs available, the people are just sitting around the table and sending out rumours that there are lists going on and this one is going and that one is staying.”

BTC CEO Leon Williams has defended the move and said that the impending cuts were strictly business related.

“This is not about emotions or about politics,” Mr Williams said earlier this year. “This is simply business. No bank, (or) Atlantis, (or) Baha Mar, is going to run it any differently. So let’s not get emotive, emotional about this. This is a business that we’ve got to run. And if we fold up, the Bahamian people lose 51 cents out of every dollar BTC makes.

“So when I hear people talk about the union I just want to put it into perspective. If this (were) your business what would you do? You would seek as much as possible to save as many jobs as possible, but you cannot save them all. It’s business. It’s not how I feel or how you feel.”