Just weeks after the Bahamas Air Traffic Controllers Union (BATCU) ended a work to rule that resulted in severe flight delays, union president Roscoe Perpall yesterday threatened further industrial action.
Perpall claimed that contract negotiations with the government have stalled in the weeks since the protest ended. However, Tourism and Aviation Minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace told The Nassau Guardian yesterday that the government is working to resolve all of the outstanding issues and will meet with air traffic controllers today.
The union's previous contract expired in February 2008.
Perpall claimed that the BATCU has a litany of problems in addition to the stalled negotiations, including "unsafe" working conditions and a dangerously dysfunctional radar.
"The union is operating on a wing and a prayer," said Perpall during a press conference at the House of Labour.
"We see that the relationship [with the government] has become strained. We expect to meet with Minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, and expect him to deliver on the promises that led to the union standing down on the work to rule."
Air traffic controllers were on work to rule during the busy Christmas season after they felt their concerns were not being addressed. Asked if there would be similar repercussions this time around, Perpall said "we can almost guarantee that".
"If the minister fails to meet the demands of the air traffic controllers, then I think that the Bahamian people will understand that the union will have to consider all of the available recourses," Perpall said.
He also said the government has failed to live up to its commitment to carry out long overdue promotion exercises. He claimed that some people have been due for promotions since 1999. Additionally, Perpall said some vacancies have not been filled for years.
"We are no longer able to tolerate this level of disrespect. We call on the prime minister to immediately have these vacancies filled," Perpall said.
Turning to the issues involving the radar, Perpall said it has had problems for some time, but in recent weeks things have gotten worse.
The radar is used to direct and track aircraft. Perpall said sometimes air traffic controllers have to guess where planes are as they often disappear from the radar.
"We do not know when the radar will fail totally but we anticipate it will be soon," he said.
Perpall said he does not think anything will change unless there is an accident involving one of the international carriers.
"We have been out in the wilderness. We've been asking for years for the government to upgrade the system," he added.
Head of the Civil Aviation Department Captain Patrick Rolle acknowledged that over the past few days there was an alignment problem with the radar's antenna, which caused targets to drop off the radar.
Engineers worked with the FAA over the weekend and resolved the issue, according to Rolle, who also said the FAA and Bahamian engineers are doing further checks on the antenna to prevent it from happening in the future. He stressed that the radar would not be in operation if it were not safe. Rolle added that the radar is in the process of being replaced.

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