The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

TEN employees at the One & Only Ocean Club will lose their jobs to redundancy when the resort begins renovating its facilities this summer, the Paradise Island resort confirmed yesterday.

John Conway, General Manager, told The Tribune that the Ocean Club is planning a “significant renovation” of its facilities in June, which would result in the laying off of 10 employees. He said those impacted will be “eligible for rehire should suitable positions become available.”

Mr Conway said the resort anticipates renovation work to begin on the historic Hartford Wing in “early June” and that the Courtyard Terrace restaurant will close.

However, he said the resort was still “finalising plans” and meeting with both “key government officials” and the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) on the matter.

BHCAWU Secretary General Darren Woods said the union was not particularly surprised by the announcement but claimed that based on a previous conversation the union allegedly held with the resort’s owner, Access Industries, the impending layoffs - and talks thereof - should not be an item on the resort’s agenda.

Mr Conway said yesterday: “Our long-term commitment remains to work closely with the Bahamian government and the Ministry of Tourism to safeguard the future of the resort of Bahamian employment. In connection with the renovation of the Hartford Wing, which includes closing the Courtyard Terrace, only 10 redundancies will be made. Those impacted will be eligible for rehire should suitable positions become available.

“These upgrades and improvements are critical to the continued success of the resort and the long term sustainability of hundreds of Bahamian jobs. We anticipate work to begin on the Hartford Wing in early June 2015, however, we are still finalising plans and meeting with both key Government officials and the Union.”

According to Mr Woods, however, Mr Conway’s statement differs from what was allegedly said during a conversation between the BHCAWU and Access Industries.

“Some time ago the (Minister of Labour) would have made some comment in the papers that there was a hotel getting ready to make some layoffs or do some redundancies and (the union) was asked the question whether or not it was true,” Mr Woods said. “So we went to the management team and we asked them. They said to us it wasn’t them, that they weren’t doing any redundancies.

“They said that, but of course we have to do our due diligence. We did our due diligence, and suffice it to say they are going to do some renovations. Some of the renovations are going to be done in stages and then they said they are going to temporarily close the resort.

“Then they said to us we have to make some people redundant. Anytime the union hears redundancy there’s always resistance, in particular when we would have met with the principals of Access and they say to us there are going to be no redundancies, no layoffs, no one will lose their jobs.”

Mr Wood said the union met with resort officials earlier this week with a goal of determining how many employees may be affected, when the layoffs would take place and how those individuals may be affected as result.

“Our concern is if you’re talking about a renovation, extending your product, doing extensions to the property, how does that then translate into job losses for Bahamians?” he said. “If you are improving your product, you’re expanding, all of these things. How then does that equate to redundancies and persons losing their jobs?”

However, he said the meeting came to an abrupt end, with both sides agreeing to adjourn until a later date.

Earlier this month, Tribune Business reported that the Ocean Club had effectively confirmed that it was the Paradise Island resort that would lay off some employees. However, the resort reportedly promised: “Any changes will be minimal.” The statement from Kerzner International, the resort’s operator, was reportedly a response to Labour Minister Shane Gibson’s comments that a Paradise Island resort set to undergo renovations was contemplating staff redundancies.

Kerzner said itself and Access Industries were unable to give details until they had met with the government and the hotel union on the matter. However, it said that the upgrades were “critical to the continued success of the resort, and the long-term sustainability of hundreds of Bahamian jobs.”

Prime Minister Perry Christie, in closing the mid-year budget debate, confirmed that Access Industries had plans for a $50m expansion of the Ocean Club. Access Industries, a conglomerate owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik, received government approval to acquire the Ocean Club last year.

Mr Christie said: “The first phase will include a $12 million renovation of the Hartford Wing this summer, with 35 construction employees, adding $1.2m in taxes through VAT and business licence collections, and will maintain current levels of employment of 435 staff following the renovations.”

Mr Wood said the BHCAWU has requested a meeting with Mr Christie to grasp a better understanding of Access’ acquisition of the resort “as it relates to the selling of the property and how it will affect the employees as it relates to the renovations.”

Nonetheless, Mr Wood said neither the union nor it’s members were surprised by the potential layoffs, but said the union would do its best endeavours to ensure the “best possible situation” for its members.

“In our business, we tend to always approach these kind of situations where new owners come in with a kind of ‘wait and see’ approach,” he said. “Even though we would have met with (resort officials) and they said they’re going to do some renovations but there’s not going to be any job losses, we still have to wait and see. We know that redundancies are a part of our industrial agreement.

“All they have to do is wait till a particular period and then of course they give us notice and then it goes from there. But we would like to see in particular that when investors come into this country, stronger heads of agreements are put in place to secure jobs for Bahamians. Because far too often you find people, whenever an investor comes in here, they come in and they displace Bahamian workers.

“That’s why we want to meet with the government to find out exactly what all transpired in this sale, and that is something else that needs to be put in place, that once investors come in any industry where they are represented by a union, that the union is around the table at some point to kind of bargain and ensure that the rights of the workers are taken into consideration.”

He added: “At this point I would say it’s kind of still sketchy because we don’t know how its going to pan out, but of course we’re going to sit down and negotiate the best possible situation for our membership.”