The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Melia Nassau Beach Resort last night indicated that the absence of a valid industrial agreement, coupled with recent court rulings, had emboldened it and given it a sound legal footing to stop deducting union dues from its employees’ salaries.

The resort’s owner, Baha Mar, in what may be perceived as picking another fight with the Christie administration, slammed as “unfathomable” the assertion by Shane Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance, that the move was “contrary to the interest and welfare of Bahamian workers”.

The move by Melia/Baha Mar means that instead of the resort providing administrative facilities for the salary deduction, and payment, of union dues, that burden now rests with its employees who are union members.

They cited recent Supreme Court and Court of Appeal rulings that confirmed such obligations were confined to a valid industrial agreement - which the hotel union currently does not have with the Bahamas Hotel and Restaurant Employers Association.

Not surprisingly, the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) accused the resort of ‘union busting tactics’, and called for an island-wide work-to-rule over the Melia’s decision to stop deducting union dues and passing them on to the union as of August 31. Mr Gibson also expressed disappointment with the resort’s actions.

However, the Melia said in response late yesterday evening that there was no statutory obligation for it to deduct union dues from employees and pay them over to the union outside the terms of a valid industrial agreement.

Baha Mar yesterday cited a Court of Appeal ruling last year involving the Grand Lucayan and the Commonwealth Union of Hotel Workers and Allied Workers, as well as a recent decision by Supreme Court Justice Roy Jones, to back up its assertions.

In the Court of Appeal case, that court found that the Grand Lucayan was not obligated to keep providing Christmas bonuses and ham and turkey to union members after their industrial agreement had expired.

It overturned an earlier Supreme Court ruling that the provisions of the expired industrial agreement had been incorporated into the individual contracts of Grand Lucayan staff.

More recently, Baha Mar and the Melia secured a legal victory when Justice Jones ruled that the  hotel was not obligated to pay staff a 15 per cent gratuity for serving all-inclusive guests - something he said would amount to “a gratuitous giveaway”.

The judge found that in the absence of a gratuity rate agreement prior to the expiration of the last valid industrial agreement in 2003, the gratuities were not part of the Melia staff’s individual employment contracts.

Baha Mar said yesterday that since Justice Jones’ ruling, Melià had paid more than $1 million in back-dated gratuities to its employees despite not being lawfully obligated to do so.

Then there is the absence of a valid industrial agreement, as cited by Justice Jones. Dave Beckford, a one-time challenger for the hotel union leadership, told Tribune Business last year that the failure to negotiate a new industrial agreement in 2013 had left members exposed to unilateral action by hotel employers.

 Still, Mr Gibson yesterday said Melià had a legal obligation to treat and enter into negotiations, in good faith, with the elected officials of the union.

“Failure to recognise this and to work in accordance with the legislation is a violation of the Industrial Relations Act and, if convicted, the management of Melia and Baha Mar will be subject to a fine of $5,000, imprisonment of up to two years or both fine and imprisonment,” said the Minister in his statement.

   He added that the Government felt the Melia’s action was “not in the best interest of Bahamian workers”, and urged it “to take urgent and immediate steps to review and reverse their decision, and consider whether it is in the best interest of the hotel to create an environment of industrial unrest that will have a negative impact on the economy of the Bahamas”.

Baha Mar/Melia said it was “regrettable” that Mr Gibson had perceived the resort’s actions “as being contrary to the general welfare of Bahamians and the best interest of Bahamian workers”.

“Baha Mar and Melia Nassau Beach Hotel have complied with, and will continue to comply with, all laws and regulations of the Bahamas as well as the decisions of the Supreme Court of The Bahamas,” they said.

Hotel union secretary-general, Darren Woods, said the union has placed its members on “amber alert” and could heighten its industrial action across the country, with fellow unions backing its efforts.

Mr Woods said of the dues: “That’s a standing arrangement with the union and is covered by our industrial agreement. They are citing some ruling from the court but the court ruling had nothing to do with it.

“That is just an attempt to frustrate the union and it’s a union-busting tactic. We have already engaged the Minister of Labour and our legal team is working on the matter right now,” he added.

  “We have placed our members on amber alert. They are on work to rule officially. That will be the first step in our industrial action. We will have island-wide action and we will step it up as we go along.”

Such action could affect some 3,500-4,000 of the 5,000 hotel union members, according to Mr Woods, which would include Nassau/Paradise Island based properties such as the Lyford Cay Club, British Colonial Hilton, Atlantis and the One and Only Ocean Club.

“We are calling on all our affiliates to come to our aid. This could escalate to a nation wide action. If they are allowed to get away with this it’s just a matter of time before it happens in other parts of the country,” Mr Woods said.

“This fight is about a fundamental issue. The right to associate is a right given under the constitution. They have operated as if the laws do not apply to them. Workers in this country have a right under the constitution to associate.”