By ARTESIA DAVIS, NG Senior Reporter, artesia@nasguard.com

Immigration officers in New Providence walked off their jobs yesterday morning to protest working conditions, promotions and security concerns.

John Pinder, president of the Bahamas Public Services Union, said the uniformed and clerical staff returned to work shortly after midday when Immigration Director Vernon Burrows assured him that their concerns would be addressed. A follow-up meeting between management and Pinder has been scheduled for Monday.

Minister of State for Immigration Elma Campbell told members of the press that she was surprised to learn of the concerns. She said that there was an "open door policy" in the department.

Pinder said it was unfortunate that workers had to "resort to walking up and down in the hot sun" to get the attention of management. He added that the union will "do what we have to do to get these matters resolved."

According to Pinder, the former government had promised to address concerns regarding promotions four years ago. He said a promotions list had been forwarded to the Public Services Commission in 2006.

However, the promised promotions were not carried out because the required performance appraisals had not been completed.

Pinder said that Burrows agreed to give the union an update on the status of those appraisals by the end of the workday on Monday.

Pinder added that management also made a commitment to provide security and hire additional clerical staff. He also said that immigration and customs officers would have risk insurance coverage by July 1.

A female worker, who did not want to be identified, said she had been threatened by disgruntled customers. She also complained about promotions.

And officers who participate in immigration roundups complained that they often went on raids without guns and bulletproof vests. Those officers claimed that they frequently had to transport foreign convicts from prison to the detention center without police escort. One of those officers said, "We have to sit in traffic while transporting violent offenders." They also said that only one of the departments three buses was reliable.

The officers also said that they often had to use their cell phones to communicate while on the streets because they had no radio sets.