The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union said yesterday that it remained unmoved by the Supreme Court’s extension of an injunction preventing it from taking industrial action against the Meliá resort until February 11.

Union Secretary General Darren Woods told The Tribune yesterday that he saw this latest move by Baha Mar and the resort as a “stalling tactic”.

The BHCAWU has been engaged in a dispute with the Meliá over gratuity payments for its members for weeks.

“It’s really not a big thing to us,” he said, “the judgment can’t stand forever. Even so, although we took the strike vote, the certificate still needs to be signed off by labour officials. Following that there is a 30-day cooling off period.

“The members are just ready to get this behind them.”

Mr Woods said the union stood ready to resume negotiations, which he claimed initially came to a halt because hotel officials said the talks were not productive. However, he said, the union was not prepared to cave to the demands of the hotel.

“Whatever rate we agree to has to be comparable to what they are taking home now. We will not settle for less. If they are prepared to compensate in other areas then we would be pleased to oblige, otherwise we won’t do it.

“We are not trying to get more, but it cannot be less than what they are getting now.”

On Wednesday night, Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president of government and external affairs, told Tribune Business that officials were willing to meet with the union “for as long as necessary” to produce a solution.

Pledging that the resort was open to meet with the BHCAWU “at any time”, Mr Sands said the gratuities owed to Meliá employees – currently held in escrow – would be released the same day that an agreement was sealed.

He has insisted that his hotel’s proposal would result in a fairer, more equitable distribution of gratuities for all the resort’s employees, as some staff currently earned a “disproportionate” amount compared to their colleagues.

Last Friday, union members voted in favour of a strike against the Meliá over the gratuity dispute.