By IANTHIA SMITH
A bystander shows his support for BTC workers as they conduct a motorcade in further protest of the sale of the telecommunications company to Cable and Wireless. (Photo/Torrell Glinton)
Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) executives led hundreds of Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) workers on a massive motorcade throughout the streets of New Providence Wednesday, in a move they said is just the tip of the iceberg for what is to come – a massive labour strike that will shut down the entire country.
Union executives said that massive motorcade is not the end of their fight as they are prepared to have their members blatantly show their support for BTC workers by withdrawing their services. BTC workers are protesting the government’s pending sale of a 51 per cent stake in the organisation to Caribbean telecom giant, Cable & Wireless. Blaring car horns and screaming through windows, hundreds of BTC workers, led by BCPOU President Bernard Evans had their voices heard in a major way yesterday. In a move that was quite reminiscent to the August 2008 BTC motorcade where then union president Robert Farquharson led his members down the same route, Mr. Evans sought to repeat history. The workers carried placards, some posted on their cars that read "Cable & Wireless will sell (your) belly" and "The government is selling their souls". Police officers were forced to divert traffic this morning as the angry crowd burst through. Spectators lined the sidewalks, the majority of them in support. "Shut BTC down by any means necessary," one supporter yelled. "This is what they need to do." "If they hate one of us then they hate all of us," another shouted. "All of we are one and this is our country, I don’t have anywhere else to go. So I support BTC it (the government) can’t sell us out." "Unity is strength," one woman said. "They tried to lock them (BTC workers) out and then said they illegally stopped working that doesn’t make sense. I support these workers." The irate workers drove from the BCPOU Hall on Farrington Road on to Nassau Street then onto Bay Street and then back to their headquarters, in a show of solidarity. For the past two days, the workers have taken union action and according to Mr Evans, there is no telling when it will end. "As long as the members want us to continue to fight, we will stand in the gap for them," Mr. Evans said. "All of the executives are here for them. We will continue to be a conduit for their message, their hurts and what they’re feeling." Mr. Evans stressed that his union is not at all opposed to privatisation; they just don’t want the company sold to Cable & Wireless. "This is for Bahamianisation," he explained. "This is for the right and opportunity to empower Bahamians. "So hopefully, the message was sent clear to those in Parliament and they will see that this is not a good deal." Believe it or not Mr. Evans said he has some secret supporters, he is getting ready to expose – some, he said, are even government Members of Parliament. "In all levels," he said. "They’ve been urging us on to do what we have to do and they soon have to come clean."
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