The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE union representing City Markets workers has said it would welcome the sale of the struggling food store chain if it meant saving jobs, officials telling Tribune Business that discouraged employees were leaving the chain every week.

Bahamas Commercial Stores and Warehouse Workers Union (BCSWWU) executive, Rosalie McKenzie, said salary payments for City Markets were lagging two weeks behind, with management struggling to meet payroll. The Finlayson family, in a recent interview with Tribune Business, confirmed they were in talks with three separate parties over the sale of a majority controlling interest in the five-store chain.

"We are happy to know if they could get it sold. We are hoping that won't affect the workers. They haven't met with us on that as yet, and to say the way forward for our members. If that's the way the company has to survive we would be more than happy at least to secure the workers," Ms Mckenzie said.

She said the union had not yet had any discussions with City Market's management on a potential sale, and added: "Right now we have about 200 to 300 employees in the union, and every week it's dropping off because a lot of people have gotten discouraged and seek employment elsewhere, so they're just leaving. Every week we have members just leaving to seek employment elsewhere so they can actually survive, because a lot of them are just taking home $10 and stuff like that, so the membership is actually deteriorating."

Mark Finlayson, principal of the Finlayson family-owned Trans-Island Traders vehicle, which holds a 78 per cent stake in City Markets'operating parent, Bahamas Supermarkets, recently told Tribune Business that the family's focus was on saving the supermarket chain's 450 jobs, but warned the company "may not survive in its present form".

He confirmed that the ailing supermarket chain is continuing to lose money, forcing the Finlaysons to subsidise it from their own financial resources to keep it afloat.

City Markets' operating parent suffered a $16.587 million net loss for its 2011 financial year that closed at end-June last year, a sum more than double the previous year's, prior to $15.453 million in 'extraordinary income' cutting the bottom line's red ink to $1.135 million.