Taxi Union Threatens Industrial Action as Airport Dispute With Livery Drivers Escalates

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS – The Bahamas Taxi Cab Union is warning that industrial action may be next as tensions over taxi and livery operations at Lynden Pindling International Airport escalate.

The warning follows a standoff at the airport Monday, which the union says pushed frustrations to a boiling point.

The Bahamas Taxi Cab Union could soon take industrial action as frustrations at Lynden Pindling International Airport reach a boiling point.

Now, the Bahamas Trade Union Congress says it’s standing firmly behind the taxi drivers.

The dispute stems from a standoff at the airport Monday. Police were called to the scene after livery drivers, according to the taxi union, attempted to block the commercial lane.

But Taxi Union President Tyrone Butler insists it was not a confrontation between the two sides.

He says taxi operators were simply following an arrangement they believed had already been agreed to by government officials during a meeting last Wednesday involving union officials.

Tyrone Butler – President, Bahamas Taxi Cab Union

“An agreement that would have allowed for livery drivers to be removed from the arrival door at the airport and placed in a more strategic place, which would be behind where the taxi lines end. Three livery cars. We accepted that arrangement, you know, against our will, but we accepted it as a trial for two weeks.”

That two-week trial was expected to take effect Monday morning.

But Butler says when drivers arrived, the livery operators had not been informed of the new arrangement.

Under the plan, taxi drivers would remain at the arrivals door, while livery operators would be positioned behind the taxi line.

The taxi union’s position is that livery operators should be handling pre-arranged business rather than competing with taxi drivers.

Butler says the union is not opposed to livery operators doing business, but wants the rules governing both groups clearly defined and enforced.

He says the lack of intervention from officials has caused the union to lose confidence in the process.

Tyrone Butler – President, Bahamas Taxi Cab Union

“We’ve had it. And we can no longer continue to just meet and meet and meet. We are now going to rely on all of the options that’s available to us.”

And one of those options is industrial action.

Butler is not saying exactly what form that action could take or when it could begin, but says the union will consult its members and supporters before making its next move.

And if taxi drivers do take that step, Bahamas Trade Union Congress President Obie Ferguson says he’s standing right beside the taxi union.

Obie Ferguson – President, Bahamas Trade Union Congress

“I am calling on all taxi drivers to follow the direction, clear direction of the president and his officers. We gotta bring it ahead. If they don’t wanna do it properly, we then gonna have to do it.”

Our News did reach out to Transport Minister Leon Lundy for comment, but got no response up to news time.