NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Minister of State for the Public Service Pia Glover-Rolle refuting the latest comments from the Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU).
Glover-Rolle explained that she and other Public Service officials have had discussions with the BPSU President Kimsley Ferguson and that they are just waiting for the union to sign off on the agreement.
“I am hopeful that the agreement is signed before the end of this year. We would like to sign as many agreements as we originally said within this year, and Public Service Union would be the main one that I would like to sign, being the Minister of State for the public service,” Glover-Rolle said.
The minister maintains that due diligence is being done, and as they seek to finalize the industrial agreement it has been forwarded to the Ministry of Finance’s Labour Relations Unit and was cleaned up last week.
Glover-Rolle explained that the Ministry of Finance will send the document to the union in short order for a final agreement to be made.
The public service minister of state said that, despite Ferguson’s claims that they have not sat to negotiate, she, as well as multiple officials have spoken with the BPSU president numerous times and that the government expects to forward the final agreement to the union by tomorrow to be signed off on.
“I have no concerns with the union not being cooperative. The process is a negotiation process; there have been conversations back and forth between the union and our labor relations union, the union and prime minister, the union president and myself, and that’s what the negotiations are.
“They are a conversation back and forth until we get to agreed terms with both the Union, Public Service union, all unions and the government have the same goal, which is to ensure that we have the best interests and the best conditions of workers at the forefront,” she stated.
Glover-Rolle said that she hopes the BPSU will soon be ready to sign, explaining that both the government and Ferguson, in previous conversations came to the conclusion that they would meet to further discuss the IA before the protest took place last Wednesday in front of Parliament.
“I think, that spoke to the Public Service Union being ready to sign between the seventh and the ninth or some dates that were quoted.
“So I don’t understand how we would be ready to sign if he wasn’t in a position to have a document or understand what it is that would be being signed,” Glover-Rolle continued,
“So I’m not quite clear on those comments, but I have had conversations, chats with Mr. Ferguson, the Labor relations unit has copied me on conversations apprised me of meetings and phone calls, and I have seen and been present where the President has also met with our Prime Minister on a number of occasions”
With Christmas around the corner, both the union president and the minister have expressed urgency with the need to get matters resolved so that public servants would have their benefits for the holidays.
The minister explained that the Ministry of the Public Service is focused on getting the package to workers ahead of Christmastime and is holding the BPSU to their word as they have stated that they are willing to sign.
“We have an abbreviated pay period in the month of December, which means that the pay cycle closes earlier. Other unions that would have signed had to wait for six weeks to realize the benefits of their agreements.
“We are we feel that we’re on a trajectory with the BPSU to sign and hopefully that will sign before the end of the year. So as a result, we would have engaged the Ministry of Public Service Technical team and the Ministry of Finance technical team to begin the process that mirrors the agreement.
In terms of ensuring that the payroll cycle, if this agreement is signed, is met in time for the holidays so that our workers aren’t disenfranchised,” Glover-Rolle said.
