The Department of Labour will submit recommendations to the minister of labor as early as today on the circumstances surrounding the release of 21 people from the Grand Bahama Shipyard over the span of five months, according to Director of Labour Robert Farquharson.

Farquharson said his department dispatched a team to Grand Bahama to investigate the matter. Minister of Labour Shane Gibson was not immediately aware of the situation at the shipyard, but union members had begun agitating for the released workers last week, holding a press conference on the matter.

Farquharson said the team is working to determine "exactly what the facts are", as union executives could not say whether the group of 21 was fired or laid off.

The workers were let go from the Grand Bahama Shipyard between July and November of this year, according to President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority Workers Union Mervin Wright.

Wright claimed last week that personnel have been fired in many instances without reason or explanation.

Calls were made to Grand Bahama Shipyard CEO Steve Jervis for comment last week, but those calls have yet to be returned.

Wright said in his 12 years as president of the union, he has had no cause to contact the Labour Board for matters such as this, as the shipyard's executive team has always had relatively amicable relations with the union.

Wright explained that he and his executive team have been trying to temper the angst of Bahamian workers at the shipyard, but have had a hard time explaining what is happening at the shipyard's executive level.

He added that he has never seen firing of this magnitude at the shipyard during his union career.

Chester Robards, Guardian Senior Reporter

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