By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dnmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama resident Alexander Burrows Jr, and members of the People Organizing With Effective Results (POWER) Team, are seeking to be elected during the 2020 Bahamas Public Services Union Elections in September.

Mr Burrows, a candidate for union president, said his goal is to rebuild and restore the BPSU membership, which has significantly declined over the past several years due to the exodus of various government departments.

The Power Team launched its campaign in February.

On Friday, Mr Burrows and his team provided lunch to essential workers in the Emergency Medical Services Department who are on the frontline in the COVID-19 crisis.

He noted that a similar initiative was also being done for EMS personnel by members of the Power Team in New Providence.

“I am running for president of the BPSU, and we decided to coordinate our efforts…to give back to frontline workers in the EMS Department,” he said.

“It is a small act of kindness and we want to tell them…that we feel for you out there risking your lives and your family's lives trying to create a safer environment for our community. We wanted to do our small part in the fight against COVID-19,” Mr Burrows said.

In Grand Bahama, the Power Team provided lunch for some 35 EMS personnel around noon at their base off Queen's Highway.

Mr Burrows, an employee of Bahamas Customs in Freeport, noted that the BPSU needs to be made “whole again.”

“We are trying to make whole again the organization as not so many years I warned our membership that this union was the fastest dying trade union within the Bahamas; we saw it happen, and not only did we lose Customs and Immigration, but just last year April we saw the exodus of the Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation (BAIC), and so haemorrhaging is now an understatement.

“We need to rebuild our organization and bring back persons by building trust among the membership and those that have departed,” Mr Burrows said.

Other candidates of the POWER Team are Martha Mackey, of Road Traffic Department who is vying for the northern region vice president position for Grand Bahama, Abaco and Bimini District; Ms Leotha Coleby of Princess Margaret Hospital is the candidate for General Secretary; Arison Wilson of Public Hospital Authority Corporate New Providence, is the candidate for executive vice president; Mr Theophilus Dean, of the Ministry of Works, is vying for Trustee; Judith Hamilton, of the Registrar General Department in NP, is the candidate for Assistant General Secretary; Quincy Strachan of the Post Office Department in New Providence, and Marilyn Cartwright of Public Hospital Authority Corporate is the candidate for vice president.