The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A former hotel union leadership contender yesterday accused its current executives of failing to produce results despite the  “tough talk” in the ongoing dispute with Baha Mar’s Meliá Nassau Beach Resort, suggesting that member benefits were effectively “hanging in the balance” due to the absence of a valid industrial agreement.

Dave Beckford, a former  Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) shop steward, said the Meliá’s decision to stop deducting member dues and passing them on to the union as of August 31 would have “serious ramifications” for the union’s finances.

“With an automatic deduction in place, that is a guarantee that the dues will be going to the union, but Meliá has said that they will discontinue deducting dues from the worker’s salaries, and I seriously doubt members will go to Worker’s House to pay their dues,” said Mr Beckford.

He added that the resort was able to take such a position because there was no registered industrial agreement in place with the hotel union.

“What they are doing now is basically choosing what they are going to enforce or commit to, and what they don’t feel like doing, they simply won’t do. That’s not the way it should be,” Mr Beckford said.

Baha Mar said in a statement on Tuesday that neither itself nor its Melià Nassau Beach Resort is obligated to provide administrative facilities for the payments of hotel union dues, citing recent appellate and Supreme Court rulings that confine such obligations to a valid industrial agreement.

“This administration should have submitted a proposal before the contract expired,” Mr Beckford, referring to the union’s failure to start negotiations on a new industrial agreement in late 2013.

“They missed that opportunity, and now the employers are taking full advantage of it. The employer has cut the union off  and it’s just another example of poor leadership on behalf of this union. They failed to negotiate a contract and nothing is in place.

“This is a master contract we are talking about, which includes Atlantis, the Hilton and the Lyford Cay Club. A precedent has been set here. The resort won their case in court on the gratuity issue, and now they have taken a position not to deduct union dues.”    

Mr Beckford added that the union’s 5,000-strong membership needs to be informed by the executive on the way forward to securing an industrial agreement that will provide employee benefits.

“We are just  on a goodwill document right now. It’s unfortunate that the employer is taking full advantage of the situation. The members’ benefits are hanging in the balance,” he said.

“When is this administration going to get on top of its game to get a contract negotiated. The only people being affected in this whole thing are the workers. Without a registered legal document I think we are going to see a lot more of these kinds of decisions being taken,” Mr Beckford said.

“I really feel sorry for this administration. They need to see how they can improve relations. Tough talk, work to rule and all this other stuff isn’t working. We need to see action. As a member and hotel worker, I’m tired of the blame game. They are blaming everyone else for their failures.”