“The promotion exercises…were done in a very irregular manner”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Water and Sewerage Management Union (WSMU) said yesterday it supports the decision of the government to stop and review all promotions at the corporation.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, WSMU President Montgomery Miller indicated that some 70 promotions were issued in the days leading up to the September 16 general election.
Miller said that while some individuals may have been deserving of the promotions, the union believes a review is necessary.
“The promotion exercises within the days before and even after the general election were done in a very irregular manner,” he said.
“They were cause of concern for the union on the face of it.
“We don’t have a difficulty and we do think they should be subject to review.
“We do concede the fact that it is quite likely there are very deserving employees who are in that group.”
Miller noted that the specific criteria set out in their industrial agreement guides how promotions should take place, with vacancies being posted publicly so other individuals can have an opportunity to apply.
He said that while there were a number of employees who were interviewed and vetted properly for jobs, there were others who were promoted “at the ninth hour” but did not go through the same process of vetting.
He said some 70 promotions were issued, with some of the individuals having been promoted through the period of the Minnis administration when other tenured individuals didn’t get the same opportunity.
In a letter on September 23, WSC workers who were recently promoted were advised: “Per directive received from the general manager, please note that all promotions effective September 1, 2021, have been placed on hold pending further review.”
The letter also noted that those individuals who were promoted had their job statuses reverted to their previous salaries and positions.
On Sunday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Public Service Fred Mitchell said the move was being done out of “an abundance of caution”.
“What seems to have happened, looking at the actions in the last weeks of the administration, there was an attempt, it appears — I don’t want to say it is, so until we actually know the facts — to put what you call a ‘poison pill’.
“The idea was that it would hobble a new administration.
“Two things seemed to be in play; one was to offer an incentive to people to vote for the past administration and the second is a ‘poison pill’ so that presumably those who were promoted or hired were ‘supporters’ of the last administration and therefore would end up causing problems for the new administration.”
He noted that instruction was issued through the secretary of the Cabinet to simply put everything on hold until the government gets an opportunity to look at what is actually going on and can make decisions going forward.
Mitchell said the government’s intention is not to put people’s lives “on hold”, while noting that the issue is being addressed expeditiously.
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