By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

WORKERS at the General Post Office were forced off the job early yesterday by a failed air-conditioning unit and a leaking ceiling due to a broken pipe, according to Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU) President John Pinder.

Mr Pinder said despite assurances by the government, conditions at the East Hill Street facility were now “more hazardous” than ever before and in need of immediate intervention.

He told The Tribune: “You just can’t make this stuff up. The employees have been as patient as they could be. As if the rats and termites weren’t enough, the air conditioner went bad. As if that wasn’t enough, a pipe in the ceiling came loose and now the building is leaking. What more can you demand of people in that sort of environment? The building is literally falling down all around them.”

“There is no way to get any kind of work done in that building and it is now time for the government to step up and fix this issue now.”

Last week, Mr Pinder told The Tribune that post office employees have worked four-hour shifts for nearly a year, resulting in a significant back up in mail delivery.

The former Christie administration had started efforts to have the main post office relocated to a new building off Tonique Williams Darling Highway by the end of May, however, according to Mr Pinder, the Free National Movement administration stopped those plans and is considering moving the post office to the Town Centre Mall.

Last year, Mr Pinder threatened industrial action if the Christie administration did not immediately move employees from the “unsanitary” General Post Office on East Hill Street. At the time, he said his members were forced to work in a mould-infested building with rats and termites and a leaking ceiling.

Mr Pinder maintains that since that time, issues at the facility haven’t improved, but have got worse.

Mr Pinder yesterday also called on institutions that depend on the General Post Office to issue important or time sensitive documents to clients, to work directly with the post offices’ sub stations to ensure that those important documents are delivered on time.

“I’ve asked the post office if this would be possible, they said it would be if businesses and institutions sort their mail properly. This is a crisis and I know that this can affect how some persons pay their bills.

“But until we can get the post office operations in another building, this is the best we can do. So if you know that any package or document is en route to you through the post office, do all you can to track them down or go directly to the source to get them,” he added.

Mr Pinder said workers will return to the post office tomorrow for their normal shift in anticipation that the situation has improved. If things are not bearable, he said, the employees will return home.

It is unclear if any mail was damaged or destroyed from the leaking pipe.