The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A leading credit union yesterday warned it may “have to take other measures” if a prominent Paradise Island resort fails to soon remedy payment arrears dating back to November 2012.

Alfred Poitier, president of the National Workers Co-Operative Credit Union (NWCCU), told Tribune Business that it wanted to “make headway in the next few days” over Club Land’Or’s failure to pass staff salary deductions on to it.

Mr Poitier added that the credit union was currently working with the seemingly-troubled resort to determine the total sum owed, on the staff’s behalf, to it.

With some Club Land’Or staff complaining that they have not been paid for three-four weeks, Mr Poitier confirmed to Tribune Business that the NWCCU was experiencing “the exact same issues”.

He added: “They’re just not making the payments, even though they’re deducting funds from staff salaries for submission to the credit union and other financial institutions.

“Unfortunately, the company has not been forwarding those deductions, those funds.”

Mr Poitier confirmed that the non-payment of salary deductions issues had been “on and off, going on for a long time” with Club Land’Or.

“I think we’ve not gotten payment for some time,” he told Tribune Business. “We attempted to make some arrangement to kind of assist the staff, but it’s not been finalised.

“We tried to get an agreement with Club Land’Or to service the staff again, utilising their existing funds with us, but because we’re not getting payments we had to put a stop to that.”

And Mr Poitier added: “Really and truly, it’s a situation where we’re behind with receiving payments from them [Club Land’Or] to November last year.

“That’s not to say we’ve not gotten one or two payments this year, but that would be to the point of how far back they are.”

The NWCCU president emphasised he was “mindful” about saying anything negative about Club Land’Or, fearing that this would make it difficult for the property to generate the revenue it needed to meet its obligations.

He noted, though, that the property appeared to be in the midst of renovations.

Asked by Tribune Business how much Club Land’Or owed the credit union on the staff’s behalf, Mr Poitier replied: “That’s presently in debate. We’re trying to put a figure on that.

“It’s something we’re working with their financial controller on. Some of the employees have left, and to get accurate amounts we have to find out if those contributions were made, and when they were made.”

The implications for Club Land’Or staff are potentially devastating, as all this means mortgages and other bills are either not being paid on time, or at all, and that planned savings are not accumulating.

Indicating that the NWCCU’s patience with the Paradise Island-based resort might be wearing thin, Mr Poitier seemed to hint that legal action might soon be an option, although he stopped short of saying so explicitly.

“The bottom line is that if we do not make headway in the next few days or so, we will have to take other measures,” he told Tribune Business, indicating that the NWCCU had recently met with impacted members on staff at Club Land’Or.

Prince Ellis, Club Land’Or’s general manager, did not return Tribune Business calls seeking comment, despite a detailed message being left for him on the nature of the call.

The staff member who took the message asked Tribune Business: “Did the union call you about this?”, to which this newspaper informed her it was the other way round.

While Tribune Business did not receive a call from Mr Ellis, it shortly after did get one from another NWCCU executive, who attempted to downplay the issues with Club Land’Or.

“It’s no different from the experience every other hotel is having at this time of year, with low occupancies and people laid off,” the executive said, referring to the traditionally slow August-October period in the tourism season.

“It’s not a big issue. This is something normal. It’s better to keep the doors open and workers employed, and meet BEC obligations.”

Club Land’Or has long been regarded as a troubled property, and last year managed to head-off a Supreme Court application by creditors to place it into receivership.

It was placed on the market several years ago with a $45 million price tag, which was later reduced to $38 million.

Tribune Business inquiries yesterday, though, revealed that Club Land’Or was no longer being actively marketed for sale, although its owners are said to be open to exiting if the right buyer comes along at the right price.

John Ruch, Land’or International’s senior vice-president, referred Tribune Business’s inquiries back to the ownership and management team in Nassau.

“We in Virginia do not have information on employees, changes and/or staff reassignment. This would be a management issue in Nassau at the resort,” he said.

Darren Woods, the hotel union’s general secretary, confirmed that an officer had been speaking to Club Land’Or on the staff’s behalf, but he could not provide an update since he was not directly involved.