By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A union leader yesterday slammed the Government’s handling of proposed bi-monthly pay for public servants as “atrocious” after seemingly cutting out key employee representatives from the talks.

Kimsley Ferguson, the Bahamas Public Services Union’s (BPSU) president, blasted what he asserted were “union busting tactics” and “disrespect” from the Government after it proceeded with yesterday’s meeting on the proposed pay switch despite knowing both himself and Belinda Wilson, the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) head, were unable to attend.

This, he said, came after himself and Mrs Wilson, together with their respective vice-presidents, went to Customs’ headquarters on Thompson Boulevard on Friday for what they thought was to be a meeting with Ministry of Finance officials to discuss the bi-monthly pay situation. 

Mr Ferguson, though, told this newspaper that their attendance was to “no avail” as “no one was aware the meeting was supposed to take place with the unions and Ministry of Finance” and no officials from the latter were present.

He added that Mrs Wilson called Bernard Evans, the former union leader now working as a labour consultant for the Government to find out what was happening. He advised the BUT president he would “make some inquiries and get back to her”, but the two union heads waited for 45-60 minutes before leaving.

The BPSU president, as the representative for between 15,000 t0 20,000 civil servants, is likely to be the most important union leader for the Government to engage with over its plan to shift public sector pay from monthly or weekly to a bi-monthly (fortnightly or every two weeks) cycle. And Mrs Wilson has been the most vocal and outspoken against the move.

Mr Ferguson, though, hit out at the Government’s decision to proceed with yesterday’s meeting despite knowing that he would be unable to attend after he informed officials he had a prior engagement. “Where were those persons last week that they met with today?” he asked.

“We would have done a little survey to some extent, and the majority of people we come into contact with are diametrically opposed to it. Our concern is what is the significance and importance of the Government paying in a bi-weekly fashion, what are the benefits and is it going to disadvantage people or put the country in a better position?”

The BPSU chief voiced misgivings that the Government had already spent several million dollars on acquiring the new Oracle payroll system prior to consultation with any of the relevant unions and public sector workers, which he argued showed it intended to press ahead with the salary cycle adjustment regardless of the feedback it received.

“This is another union busting tactic, this is another disrespect the Government is showing towards unions and employer representatives. This government is atrocious,” Mr Ferguson blasted. “If we call the Ministry of Labour and say to them we’d like a meeting on Tuesday, and they have a prior engagement, we’ll seek to rearrange it.

“They went ahead according to people today and had a meeting without the two major unions in the country. How is this bi-monthly thing going to benefit the Government? If you’re doing it in the interests of employees, don’t you think you want to get a view from them? I don’t know if this is going to cause the buoyancy of the economy to be where they want it to be. If that is the case, go ahead and say so.

“Again, people are trying to make the unions insignificant....This is going to cause a ruckus. We are not opposed to change, but the decisions made to impact the people we represent have to make sense.” Mrs Wilson previously warned of industrial action if the Government fails to address concerns over the proposed bi-monthly pay switch.

Prime Minister Philip Davis KC announced plans to introduce the change when he unveiled the 2024-2025 Budget, adding that it was part of a series of public sector reforms. Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour and the public service, recently announced plans to make the switch in early 2025, but later backtracked and said the timeline had been extended for further consultation after union leaders expressed concern.

However, she emphasised that the postponement does not mean the Government has changed its position and reiterated that it believes bi-monthly payments will benefit public servants by providing more consistent cash flow between pay periods.

During his contribution to the Budget debate in the House of Assembly, Mr Davis announced several reforms for the public sector that he said would “revolutionise” the administration of payments for government employees.

He said these include introducing electronic salary notifications, online job applications and bi-monthly salary payments via Cloud Bahamas, a project launched by the Government in May to digitise the public service.

“Bi-weekly salary payments mean that our employees will now be able to be paid every two weeks,” he said. “This will allow for more frequent paydays, which will almost certainly support employees to improve their cash flow. This, in turn, will hopefully shield employees from high-interest consumer loans in order to fund everyday expenses.”

Mr Davis added that the change will also help small businesses “which rely on the uptick in economic and financial activity fuelled by government workers”, while the Cloud Bahamas project would also address other issues facing civil servants such as long-term pay discrepancies and employee accountability.

The Prime Minister also announced that public sector salaries would be reviewed because they are too low. His administration has budgeted $10m for this review.

“If we do not offer salaries at competitive rates, people will not want to work in the public service,” he said. “If we do not offer salaries at competitive rates, people will not stay in the public service. Salaries must keep pace with inflation and be at a level which is competitive and fair,” he added.