The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

SCORES of angry hotel workers protested outside the House of Assembly yesterday demanding the government “do whatever they have to do” to ensure that the rights of Bahamian workers are not trampled on by foreign investors.

The protesters were some of the 140 employees made redundant last Friday by the Wyndham Nassau Resort, now owned by Baha Mar.

The union members marched and sang “This Land is my Land” while waiting for Prime Minister Perry Christie to arrive at parliament.

President of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union, the union that represents the terminated workers, said it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that Wyndham upholds not only the Heads of Agreement signed by the government, but also the industrial agreement with the workers.

“The government has a responsibility. The responsibility of the government is to ensure that any agreement signed on behalf of the government and the people of the Bahamas is adhered to. There are  attempts to twist this and turn this into something that it is not. The union has been disrespected outrightly, they have no regard for the union or the agreement that they signed. The government executed a heads of agreement on January 31, 2011. There are provision in that document. We do not expect the government to run these  private institutions, but we expect the government to stand up and ask that they honour the agreement that was signed,” she said.

“The other day when the development got to a certain point, the government needed to make good on a promise that was made, a commitment. So if the government had to make good on millions how is it that an employer who said they will, on top of the 1500 permanent jobs, get to not keep their commitment?  There is no provision in that agreement to have labour reduced and if there was a need to reduce the complement of staff, go back to the people you had the agreement with and talk to them because unilaterally you are not supposed to amend an agreement.

“We are calling on the government to do what they have to do, this is a Bahamian problem. This is a problem for any worker in the Bahamas. They have gone even further. They have said in their deed of release, that they asked the employees to sign, that employees are banned for seeking employment with that company over the next 18 months. What kind of foolishness is this? As a person able to work in the Bahamas, we should be free to apply for employment. Something is fundamentally wrong with that. If the government does not see the flaw in that, then we are in trouble.”

Shortly after her statement, Prime Minister Perry Christie arrived and told Mrs Martin that a meeting was scheduled with Baha Mar to discuss the matter. He also met with the union president briefly after the House sitting but neither party would disclose what was said in the meeting.

National Congress of Trade Unions Bahamas (NCTUB) President Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson, who was also at the protest, said her union stands in solidarity with the BHCAWU because what happened to those workers can happen to anyone in the country.

“It was important,” she said, “for the NCTUB to be here this morning because today it is the hotel union, tomorrow it could be the faculty at the College of the Bahamas, it could be anyone in the Bahamas Public Service Union, it could be our teachers, I am saying today, this could happen to anyone of us, at any point in time. So it is important for us to be solidified and support each other. The industrial agreement may not have been registered, but if they were living by the industrial agreement then they had an agreement between the two parties. This is an important matter to the Bahamian people, this affects the entire Bahamas. We are calling on the government to believe in these 140 workers that were terminated and believe in Bahamians.”

Belinda Wilson, President of the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT), also stood with the BHCAWU. She said the government must ensure the displaced workers are given everything that is owed them.