SOME staff members at Bahamas Technical Vocational Institute have issued a clarion call for the Davis administration not to consider board chairman Kevin Basden for reappointment.

The Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas, the bargaining agent for workers at BTVI, said workers are prepared to stage industrial action over the issue.

Mr Basden, an eight-year board member, was first appointed as deputy chairman on the BTVI board during the 2012 Christie administration. He stayed on after the election in 2017 and was later appointed to the post of chairman by the Minnis administration.

Over the years, tension has grown between the staff and executives at BTVI with allegations of mistreatment and suppression of staff advancement.

Several BTVI staff spoke to The Tribune yesterday claiming that they are prepared to withdraw their services if Mr Basden returns to the board.

“For the past few weeks there has been a mass exodus of employees leaving because of the atrocious working conditions,” one staff member said. “A good number of them left without having any other jobs to go to. They just simply could not stay working under these conditions.

“The situation at BTVI has become increasingly worse as it relates to employee rights and benefits when compared to other quasi-(government) institutions. It is so bad that the workers refer to the place as the plantation. Mr Basden has not benefited us. We have no career paths at BTVI. How can there be a tertiary institution that does not have a proper human resource department to shape up the advancement of staff?”

The staff member does not want to see Mr Basden returned to the board.

“. . .We are asking this government to look at the record of this board and the past board that Mr Basden also served on. Nothing but wastage was accomplished and the staff was always in turmoil,” the worker alleged.

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