The statement by the President of the Bahamas Air Traffic Controllers Union has been brought to the attention of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation.
The Ministry is advised that in accordance with General Orders all controllers who worked overtime at Freeport Airport over the last two years have been credited with days off for time worked over and above regular work hours and further that no objection or complaint was raised during the past two years in respect of this protocol.
The Ministry of Transport seeks to resolve all legitimate disputes in the interest of fairness and industrial harmony and would urge the Union’s President to seek to engage management stakeholders in an effort to arrive at amicable settlements of dispute without unnecessary vitriol or confrontation.
In this regard the Ministry has invited the Union along with the Department of Civil Aviation and the Department of Labour to meet on Tuesday to seek clarification and where necessary resolution of outstanding concerns as it relates to Freeport, Exuma and Eleuthera. In the interim we are expectant that the Union will not encourage any action which is not justified in law or in fact and which might have an adverse impact on the traveling public or the economy of Grand Bahama.
As a precaution, however, the Department of Civil Aviation has advised that it has put in place contingencies so as to assure there will be no disruption during this holiday weekend.
