Security at the headquarters of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) will be heightened in the wake of last week's "invasion" by union members, BTC CEO Geoff Houston revealed yesterday. Last Thursday hundreds of members of organizations which fall under the country's two largest umbrella unions stormed the headquarters on John F. Kennedy Drive, in a bid to have a fired Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) vice president reinstated. Houston said executives continue to be concerned about that incident. "I think that would concern anyone having your home invaded like that," Houston said during an interview with The Nassau Guardian. "So we've noted the action and obviously we need to take the appropriate steps to make sure that we protect our home.
"We've had a review of our security arrangements and we will continue to make the necessary modifications just to make sure that the business and our people are fully protected," Houston added. The unions were protesting the firing of Elizabeth Thompson, who was a senior manager in the legal department at BTC. She was fired after spending four-and-a-half years at the company. In her dismissal letter, the company said it fired Thompson without cause and added that her continued employment would not be in the company's best interest. Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) President Bernard Evans led the union officials and members, who crowded into BTC's lobby and chanted "LIME got to go" and "Houston got to go".
Members of the National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas (NCTUB) and the Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) joined the protest. After the boisterous demonstration, the group then marched upstairs to the third floor to confront Houston. Once upstairs, the group found Houston's office empty. The protestors waited for 20 minutes before several police officers started to show up. Houston said since the incident an assessment was made in an effort to ensure that it does not happen again. Asked what specific security modifications BTC would make, Houston said while the company isn't doing anything drastic, changes will be made.
"'People [will] only get access who are approved visitors and those kinds of things, nothing unusual. We're not locking the place down and turning it into a military camp. We're simply just putting the appropriate and established controls in place and making sure it's protected because this business is one that services a lot of critical customers. And we always [have] to be mindful of the technology and the equipment that we have as well as our people," he said. Houston said he was also alarmed about some of the comments that the union members made during the protest. However, he was reluctant to discuss the matter further as it is before the Ministry of Labour. "We are in a conciliatory process with the Ministry of Labour and we have held one meeting already and we expect that to take its course. We are abiding by the rules," he said.
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