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Hotel union should conduct an audit L ionel Morley, Grand Bahama-based second vice president of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU), said in an article published in The Freeport News on Thursday that some members of the union are calling for an audit before new elections are held as ordered by the Court of Appeal. "The election and its process were flawed," Morley said, referring to two previous BHCAWU elections that were held but subsequently declared null and void. "There were people left off of the register during the last election and it is important for us to get it right this time." This is essentially the same position voiced by Attorney Keod Smith, who represents First Vice President Kirk Wilson and other members of the executive council who participated in a marathon meeting earlier this week in an effort to comply with the Appeal Court's ruling that the executive council meet within seven days to decide on new nomination and election dates. In making the case for an audit, Smith said at a news conference in New Providence, "In doing this, we would be able to have an independent assessment of the register as it was in February 2009 and as it should be today, which is absolutely necessary in order for us to be sure that we comply with the Court of Appeal judgment not to exclude or deprive any person from being able to participate in the process, whether as a nominee, nominator or simply a voter." This makes a great deal of sense, especially in light of the fact that the union has in place a rule which states that a member ceases to be a member if they have not paid dues for three consecutive months. Since $10 a week is deducted from the salaries of union members as dues under an "agency shop" entitlement granted to the BHCAWU by an amendment to the Industrial Relations Act in 1979, there is a strong likelihood that many members who were eligible to vote in February 2009 are no longer considered members of the union, given the massive layoffs in the hotel industry as a result of the worldwide recession. If we look at the numbers in the first election held on May 28, 2009, it becomes clear that either many union members were turned off by the bitter internal squabbling among leaders of the union or that a good number of them were disenfranchised because they were no longer considered members of the union. Nicole Martin won that election with a total of 1,358 votes, compared to a mere 270 for incumbent President Roy Colebrook; however, because of a dispute over the correct nomination and election dates, First Vice President Wilson's name was not on the ballot. At the time Wilson was extremely popular and was considered to be the front-runner for the presidency. When you consider the fact that the union at one time had more than 7,000 members and still should have had around 6,000 when the May 28 election was held, then it is clear that Martin's "landslide" victory may have been the result of some voters being declared ineligible to vote. The numerical result of the second election held on September 29 reflects very much the same story; Martin won with 1,553 votes compared to 436 for Wilson. But as Morley adamantly stated, people were left off the register, and presumably they were mostly Wilson supporters. This being the case, the only fair thing to do is to conduct an audit, so that this time around the election will be totally legitimate. Friday January 22, 2010