The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE INDUSTRIAL tribunal has placed blame on the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union for the termination of three dozen Grand Bahama hotel workers.

According to an official tribunal document, the matter was filed three months ago by the union on behalf of 36 Grand Lucayan Resort employees, who stated they were wrongfully dismissed.

However, the tribunal dismissed the case, saying the workers breached company employment terms on instruction of Union Treasurer Hubert Saunders.

The document said: “The action by the treasurer of the union, Mr Hubert Saunders, in calling out his members on September 28, 2011, was entirely irresponsible.

“The tribunal finds that the walk-out by the 36 applicants was a fundamental breach of their contract of employment and that the respondent was entitled to dismiss the applicants under the terms of their employment contracts.”

In addition, the tribunal said: “An employer shall prove for the purposes of any proceedings before the tribunal that he (employer) honestly and reasonably believed on a balance of probability that the employee had committed the misconduct in question at the time of the dismissal and that he had conducted a reasonable investigation of such misconduct except where such an investigation was otherwise unwarranted.”

The tribunal also found that no registered industrial agreement existed between the BHCAWU and the Grand Lucayan and no such action should have been taken.