The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 300 hotel workers at the Grand Lucaya Resort were denied their right to take a strike vote after the Labour Department did not facilitate a strike poll.

The Commonwealth Union of Hotel Services and Allied Workers had called for a poll to take place between 9am and 5pm at Le Utopia on Friday.

When labour representatives failed to show up, union officials called the Department of Labour around 9:20am and were told that there was no one there they could send to supervise the poll.

“It is a sad day for the workers of Grand Lucaya,” said president Michelle Dorsett. “We are truly disappointed in the Labour Department.”

Some 364 workers, including the 30 hotel security workers who were laid off on Wednesday, were expected to vote in Friday’s strike poll.

Ms Dorsett said that the Director of Labour did not even have the common courtesy to call and inform the union about why no one from the department was there to supervise the poll.

She claims that the Labour Department is “siding with” management and had contacted the general manager on Thursday to let him know there would not be a strike poll.

“The general manager told me that what I was looking for on Friday will not happen,” Ms Dorsett claimed.

She also accused the Labour Department of trying to intimidate the union about not going ahead with a strike vote.

President Dorsett believes that the hotel is planning more layoffs in other departments.

She said the hotel has already out-sourced security services, and is now entertaining bids for the out-sourcing of the Housekeeping and Food and Beverage Departments.

Ms Dorsett said that outsourcing is unsuitable as it lowers the standard of pay and provides no benefits or rights for workers.

“Slavery was abolished in the Bahamas; I cry shame on the government of the Bahamas – our forefathers, Sir Randol (Fawkes) and Sir Lynden (Pindling) are turning over in their graves,” she said.

Ms Dorsett believes that the packages offered to the workers are unacceptable.

She said workers who have been employed for eight years have been offered packages of $5,000, and those employed for two years were offered packages of $1,600.

The Labour Department, she said, has denied the workers their voice by refusing to facilitate the poll.

President Dorsett also expressed disappointment that none of the five MPs on Grand Bahama has come forward to offer support and assistance to the union.

Rev Michael Pinder, union adviser, said many of the laid off workers are still hurting and are in need of counselling.

“There seems to be no one coming to their aid or assistance. When the Department of Labour turned their backs on them, where else do they have to go?

“We have five MPs in Grand Bahama and not one of them has called to ask about the situation,” he said.

“There are about 364 workers at Grand Lucaya who are upset, and there are 30 who are distraught. We need some persons or pastors out there who are trained in crisis counselling that can assist us in giving these people some counselling.”

“The mood in the office yesterday was a sad one; people were crying after they picked up their packages. They are being evicted from their places – and in a month’s time some of them will be homeless.”

According to Rev Pinder, the union met with the parties at the labour department on Friday to conciliate the matter.

“We have asked the hotel to reinstate the workers,” he said.

“Sections 22-25 of the collective industrial agreement clearly spell out how the company ought to behave if they want to lay-off, terminate, or make workers redundant,” he said.

Even though Senior Justice Hartman Longley has ruled that the hotel must abide by the industrial agreement in place, Rev Pinder said the hotel’s legal counsel has indicated that they would be contesting the ruling.

As a result, he said they are unable to assist the workers because the Employee Aid Fund is being withheld.

He is asking the workers to be patient.

“It was very sad to know that the Labour Department refused to facilitate the poll. The people were already coming in to vote, but we could not proceed because the Minister did not send anyone there and it would have been null and void.

“We did not want to pull people off their jobs - because we want to do things according to the law. And so we are asking them to be patient because there are options that we have through the courts that we will seek to pursue,” he said.

Rev Pinder thanked union president John Pinder and veteran unionist Leo Douglas and Pastor Eddie Victor who have offered their support.