BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE doors to the St. Kitts Branch of Brown Hill Communications Limited (BHCL) will be permanently closed to the public effective October 2015 and some 40 employees may have to join the ‘breadline’.
BHCL is a subsidiary of Bell Canada, a high-ranking communication company in that North American country that provides internet, phone and television services, with call centres worldwide, including Egypt, India and the Philippines.
On Thursday, October 23, 2008, Bell Canada had officially established a call centre in Nevis – BHCL – and some 90 persons were employed at that time. However, because of the high demand, another branch was opened on St. Kitts in March 2011, which employed over 45 locals and more than 30 Haitians.
The St. Kitts Branch is located in the building above C&C Super Foods Ltd. on George Street, Newtown.
Information reaching SKNVibes states that Manager of the Nevis Branch, Chanelle Pinney-Myers recently held a meeting with the staff of the St. Kitts Branch, where she informed them of its closure, effective Monday, October 12, 2015.
This media house spoke with a number of employees who expressed surprise at the move made by management.
“Despite being asked numerous times if the centre was going to close down and being told numerous times that the centre was not going to close down, that announcement proved that it was all a big lie,” one employee said.
Another employee explained, ‘It came as a shock initially. Then I was a little disappointed that they did not finish the year off as Christmas is fast approaching and for parents who have to purchase school supplies. This will certainly affect them! Brownhill has been cutting hours constantly for the past couple of months. This all feels like a betrayal for me, I just can’t believe this is happening.”
This publication was also told that management gave employees the option of relocating to Nevis. The employees were offered a $1 575-allowance under the condition that should they agree to the option, they would remain employed with the company for six months after receiving the allowance.
That allowance would however have to be repaid immediately if the contract were breached.
“BHCL crazy! They expect me to pack up my comfortable life here to move to Nevis? Oh no! The cost of living in Nevis is far too high, I cannot afford to live in Nevis, I just cannot,” said an irate employee.
Another employee was also in disagreement with the option.
“Personally, that’s a definite no, no. They could have tried to do something to accommodate us in terms of getting boat passes. But instead, they decided to close and expect me to uproot my life here and move to Nevis.
“It’s sort of a sigh of relief even though I’m a bit anxious about the unknown as far as a job is concerned. The working environment is stressful and unbearable.”
Further information received states that Bell Canada had imported 25 Haitians to cater to its French-speaking clients and, in return, the company paid for their work permits. As a result, all of the Haitian employees agreed to work in Nevis and six Kittitian employees decided to follow suit.
This latest move by BHCL can soon see approximately 40 Kittitians seeking employment.
It was observed that the company has already posted job vacancies on SKNVibes to replace those employees who did not agree with the option.
