By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

SIX months after voting for new union representation, workers at the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) say they remain trapped in limbo — without coverage, without answers, and increasingly without hope.

What began as a routine union poll has spiralled into a prolonged legal stalemate after the Bahamas General Workers Union (BGWU), the former bargaining agent, secured an injunction blocking certification of the results. The rival Bahamas Public Sector and Health Professionals Union (BPSHPU) insists it won overwhelmingly and is waiting on the Supreme Court to confirm its recognition.

In the meantime, employees say they are left exposed.

Anthony Walkine said the lack of representation has left staff vulnerable to mistreatment and even firings.

Marcus Thompson described being suspended for ten days without pay and only receiving a letter after the fact. “Some of them are scared to open and speak right now,” he said. “They know you don’t have no union here. They are just taking advantage of the staff.”

Nineteen-year employee Shenika Neilly said her career has stalled. “This is like the third year they promised me something. I couldn’t get it. Because we right now don’t have a union.”

“We don’t have no one to even carry our matters.”

As a single mother, she said the lack of benefits has left her struggling to provide for her children. “We already showed them who we wanted to represent us and it’s still on hold. It ain’t fair. We just have to take whatever they give us.”

BPSHPU President Latonya Symonette told The Tribune the delay is hurting workers who followed the law and voted. She said BAIC staff have gone more than six months without union coverage, while dues are still being deducted for the BGWU despite cease and desist letters. “That is egregious,” she said.

BGWU attorney Keod Smith previously argued the poll was invalid under Section 43 of the Industrial Relations Act, citing the lack of a petition and registration list. Justice Andrew McKinney granted an interim injunction halting certification until a final ruling, which has not yet been scheduled.