By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
LABOUR Minister Shane Gibson said his ministry was given very little notice by Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort of its decision to make more than 600 employees redundant yesterday so it could conduct renovations.
However, Mr Gibson’s suggestion was denied by a source connected with Sandals who told The Tribune that high-ranking officials of the resort informed Prime Minister Perry Christie of the intention to make employees redundant.
“It was with deep disappointment that the Ministry of Labour received a letter from Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort, informing us that the contracts of more than 600 employees would be terminated today as a result of Sandals’ closure,” Mr Gibson said during a communication in the House of Assembly yesterday.
“My ministry first learned about the closure on Tuesday, August 1, with the rest of the country when information was leaked to the media and printed in a local newspaper. I requested a meeting with officials from Sandals on August 3.
“We met with Chief Executive Officer of Sandals Resorts International Adam Stewart as well as members of his executive and legal teams. During that meeting, we asked them to consider laying employees off instead of making them redundant. They told us they would consider this suggestion and get back to us within 24 hours. However, after not hearing from them, my ministry wrote Sandals a letter on August 4, requesting the resort’s latest position and further details on the proposed closure. “Sandals has yet to respond to my ministry,” Mr Gibson added. “Instead resort representatives wrote the attorney general and copied the Ministry of Labour on Friday, August 12, informing us of their decision.”
Mr Gibson said the government has been advised that the resort will be closed for eight weeks as it carries out renovations because hotel officials said the work could not be carried out in the presence of guests.
Nonetheless, the resort, he said, indicated that it would retain 44 Bahamian managers, 13 work permit holders and 44 line staff members to maintain the property during the closure.
About 60 other line staff employees will be sent to Sandals Emerald Bay in Exuma, Mr Gibson said.
Regarding Sandals’ letter, he said: “That letter did not include the necessary details for my ministry to proceed how we normally do. In fact, we are still awaiting a response to the letter we sent 11 days ago. We were advised that Sandals is demanding that employees being made redundant sign a deed of release. I understand this is illegal, as the law does not require employees being made redundant to sign such a document for redundancy money that they are entitled to. We have never had a major employer in this country proceed this way in making hundreds of employees redundant without first meeting with the Ministry of Labour.
“I am again calling on the National Tripartite Council to move post-haste with updating our redundancy laws, making it mandatory that proper notice be given and consultations take place before moving to make employees redundant.”
Asked by The Tribune about the matter outside the House of Assembly yesterday, Mr Gibson said he believes Sandals’ actions are an attack on the Bahamas Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (BMAWU), which has several ongoing labour disputes with the resort.
The main issue is Sandals’ refusal to recognise the union as the bargaining agent for its employees despite a 2011 ruling by the Privy Council that the resort do so.
Sandals has refused to negotiate with the union.
In a statement yesterday, Opposition Leader Dr Hubert Minnis said Sandals’ decision will only aggravate the country’s high unemployment problem.
“The country woke up this morning with more bad news on the unemployment scene with Sandals’ announcement that effective today they will close their doors for several months,” he said. “This news is especially painful coming at a time when we have one of the highest unemployment rates in decades.”
Dr Minnis claimed that the temporary closure is indicative of a downturn in the tourism sector, although he provided no evidence of this.
“We understand the need for hotels to close for renovation . . . but we fail to understand why there was not a phased closure which would allow employees to be on rotation while renovation takes place,” he said. “We in the FNM are outraged that the Christie led government, who prides itself as being the most labour friendly government ever, would sit on their hands and allow employers to lay off workers in the absence of constructive dialogues taking place to save Bahamian jobs.”
Comments
Bahamaland 8 years, 4 months ago
Sounds like Baha Mar #2...10,000 jobs promised in 2012 but more like 10,000 reduction in jobs thanks to the inept PLP government
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 4 months ago
Same applies to the second leg of our economy, banking, which thanks to Christie's "legalization" of the corrupt racketeering and other criminal activities of the gaming web shops, has laid off many Bahamian banking professionals and is now a besieged industry on life support.
Greentea 8 years, 4 months ago
please explain the link to me? i really don't get what you are saying since the banking industry seemed to be dying long before the legalization of webshops- from the blacklist days. UBS for instance was being fined for questionable business practices - outside the bahamas- and decided to downsize long time ago.
TalRussell 8 years, 4 months ago
Comrades! Where in the hell are A.D. "Mitch" Hanna or a Loftus Roker, when the hotel's workers does kneed them instead of the weak-kneed Shane's bowing to the foreigners?
"Mitch" or Loftus, would have by noon today - done ordered the 13 work permit holders be escorted to the Pindling airport. The balls of these foreigners.
Sandals, how dare you think you can abruptly cancel the paycheques of some 600 native workers and keep your foreigners paycheques flowing? Did you send home 92% the native workers but decided keep 100% the foreigner workers?
banker 8 years, 4 months ago
It's the Golden Rule, and it is applicable all over the world.
birdiestrachan 8 years, 4 months ago
I am always sorry when people lose their jobs. It can not be easy.
banker 8 years, 4 months ago
This is the very first sign that I have seen that indicates that you are human.
BaronInvest 8 years, 4 months ago
That's what you get in return when treating foreigners like shit... We just leave...
licks2 8 years, 4 months ago
DUMB FOREIGNERS GET THEMSELVES INTO THESE STEWS. . .MAKING POOR DECISIONS AND EXPECT PEOPLE TO GIVE THEM A BLIGH BECAUSE THEY ARE FOREIGNER!
THIS WILL COST SANDALS BIG TIME. . .YOUR HR PERSON SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU SO! IF THESE ARE THE KIND OF DECISIONS THAT YOU FOREIGNERS MAKE. . .DONT BLAME THE LOCALS FOR YALL POOR DECIUISION MAKEING SKILLS. YALL NEED TO GET BETTER TRAINING IN UNION BUSTING. . .YOU SUCK AT IT! ONE CASE IN COURT FOR THE SAME AND NOW THIS BIG PILE OF CHICKEN DOO. . .LOL!
I SUGGEST THAT THEY DON'T "RUN" YINNA OUT OF TOWN. . . LET YA STAY. . .NOBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD WILL HAVE YA BUSINESS WITH THOSE KIND OF SILLY PRACTICES!
birdiestrachan 8 years, 4 months ago
Baroninvest "we just Leave" How soon will you be Leaving? By boat or plane so that you can get a proper send off. You seem to be happy that people are out of work.
DillyTree 8 years, 4 months ago
And the beat goes on. When will people see that these "foreigners" are the ones bringing jobs to this country -- it's not like we are producing jobs on our own. So when we start behaving like spoiled brat unions, what else do we expect?
Sandals is tired of strongarm union tactics, so have simply acted to protect themselves. So let's see how the whole negotiations go from here. The 600 employees will surely tell the union to stop with the BS and negotiate in good faith - not like thugs.
SP 8 years, 4 months ago
.......................... No foreign investment without Bahamian participation! ..........................
This is exactly why 100% foreign business ownership is not allowed in many jurisdictions!
Bahamas governments under the table deals with foreigners compromises their ability to enforce laws allowing foreigners to hold the country hostage with a few jobs.
Bahamians must OWN our industries. This nonsense of pandering to foreigners has proven disastrous in banking, hospitality and all sectors of the economy.
Get rid of the scheming, corrupt PLP and FNM that led the country down this uncle tom path of relying on foreigners for everything!
Sickened 8 years, 4 months ago
Sandals/Breezes/Atlantis etc. etc. wouldn't be here if they had to have a Bahamian partner. Plus, these Bahamian partners are always family members of politicians. Going back some 20 years now, everyone I personally know who tried to get a business going (even Bahamians - albeit white Bahamians), were not only told that they needed a Bahamian partner, but were told who that partner should be.
The vast majority of Bahamian officials are crooks, gangsters and thieves. We Bahamians get what these nasty officials alone deserve.
SP 8 years, 4 months ago
Atlantis may not have been here, but given the right investment climate others would have invested just as they are now breaking down doors for hospitality business partnerships in Cuba! Sandals & Breezes have Cuban partners in Cuba just like everyone else.
Bahamian officials are undoubtedly not JUST crooks, gangsters and thieves. They are DUMB crooks, gangsters and thieves that sold the country out to foreign ownership for personal gain to the detriment of the entire country!
concernedcitizen 8 years, 4 months ago
Maybe you are too young to remember ,,we did invest in hotels in the late 70,s 80,s ..Ambassador beach etc ..They lost our hard earned tax dollars hand over foot ,did damage to our reputation as a brand and were sold for pennies on the dollar .The Bahamians that can run profitable hotels are ,,The Great Abaco resort etc ..T o saddle foreign investors w/ any of our hand picked crooks would be treason
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 4 months ago
I don't understand why Mr Gibson is blaming anyone. He's the minister of labour, the person responsible for ensuring the labour laws are sufficient to protect Bahamians. This signing to receive severance and waiving rights to litigation seems pretty standard to me, I've gone through two of these mass separations over my career, I don't know where he's been.
That said, I don't know what would have been different. 600 persons would still be out of a job. You can't get mad at a business for failing financially or for trying to reduce costs, you're the one who agreed to increased business license fees, VAT and now NHI. Those things have consequences on the bottom line.
These union leaders who have no qualifications other than a loud mouth, are leading employees down the wrong path.
We really need competent people in these leadership posts, their behinds will always be exposed when crises pop up. Imagine the PM asking for complicated labour relations advice from someone who doesn't even know that he can't use NIB registration numbers to calculate job creation numbers. Teachable moment, smt.
licks2 8 years, 4 months ago
Any first year Lawyer will tell you that no legal agreement can be entered into about anything that is illegal. . .therefore no waiver signed between the hotel and their workers is binding because redundancy payments are legal requirements for redundancies. . .the ACT dose not require signing any agreement for receiving those payments! THE SUPREME COURT WILL ENTER THIS MESS AND CLEAN THE CLOCKS FOR SANDALS. . .SINCE OUR GOVERNMENT WILL NOT DO IT! IF YOU GO AND READ THE LABOUR LAWS YOU WILL SEE THAT THE HOTEL BLATANTLY REFUSED TO FOLLOW THE LABOUR LAWS!
NO PATRIOTIC BAHAMIAN SHOULD NO ALLOW THIS NON-BAHAMIAN COMPANY TO DISREGARD OUR LAWS IN SUCH A "HIGH HANDED" AND ARROGANT MANNER!
IF I HAD THE POWER TO CONFRONT THIS NON-FRIENDLY COMPANY. . .THEY WILL NO LONGER HAVE WORK PERMITS FOR ANYBODY FROM OUTSIDE OF THE BAHAMAS WHILE THEY ARE FIRING BAHAMIANS TO SIT DOWN. . .ALLOWING THEIR COUNTRY MAN TO WORK IN OUR NATION ON WORK PERMITS!
Alex_Charles 8 years, 4 months ago
You demand a raise, you get a raise. You demand more days to work, you get more days to work in the busy season. You demand industrial agreements, they refuse. You demand better work environments, they refuse to talk to your union. You protest by obstructing traffic and putting on a scene infant of tourists and inconvenience Bahamians alike. now they yield to your demand after your government fines them for intimidation. They close the hotel and you lose your job. Now the union cries foul. While it is unfortunate, sometimes we forget we don't own a goddamn thing in tourism and it's not YOUR industry. Bahamians are cheap labour and nothing more. This whole process was completely stupid and avoidable. All parties hold blame, including the owners and the union. This is the dark side of Unions, especially when they get greedy and negotiate like complete amateurs, now no-one has a job lol. way to go. I bet the essential line staff and security are super happy about keeping their jobs.
banker 8 years, 4 months ago
Co-sign.
Theobserver1 8 years, 4 months ago
The employees will need to think long and hard about what is important - a stable employer, or a union who might be promising what exactly....we don't know. I'm just saying that because Sandals has a reputation for treating well with its workers throughout the Caribbean, and so its curious that you are suddenly hearing about all these questionable working conditions, but I suppose that will be rectified with the upgrades.
licks2 8 years, 4 months ago
Where in the Caribbean? How about Puerto Rico. . .USVI. . San Martin. . .or any of the other more developed regional nations where the competition is this high class as the Bahamas? Sandals is a mom and pop company who can't compete outside of this region. . .or in the high end destinations in the region such as USVI, Bahamas etc.! No it will not be helped by the up-grades. . . because the court cases will show just how "yardie" this brand can operate. . .THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING YALL POOR BUSINESS BEHAVIOUR! This pyric victory will not go well for your brand. . . these "locals" will pull your smug tails down in the international mud so deep. . .you will forever only be able to operate in these here Caribbean back-water towns. . .
Theobserver1 8 years, 4 months ago
The Baha Mar debacle should warn everyone of how difficult it is to do business right now - why are we fighting with the ones who are making it work in the bahamas?
Naughtydread 8 years, 4 months ago
That's what happens when you have a union that conducts their affairs like a bunch a primary school kids on a playground. Unfortunately these jobs do not require any skill or formal education so when you want to treat foreign companies like they owe you something you get exactly what you ask for. Its sad to see so many people out of a job but people need to begin to realize that cheap labor is very accessible and when you join a labor for merely job security you are setting yourself up for failure.
licks2 8 years, 4 months ago
They are operating like little children on the playground and the Jamaicans are the ones who "pick up all they marbles" and gone home when they are out of their league. . . ILO 87, supreme court ruling June 2011 etc.. . . yet yinna still carry on like "bush people". . . who never been "foreign" before! I want to know where you will find that cheap labour in this nation without hiring Haitians or Jamaicans? This company is on a slope to ruins in this nation. You can leave. . .you are not up to the task. . .under-handedness is poor "bush bukkie" type business practices! We are Bahamians. . . A PROUD AND RESILLIANT PEOPLE. . .WE WILL SURVIVE. . .YOU WILL NEVER DO ANYMORE IN THIS NATION. . .YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO FOR REAL. . . YOUR TYPE WE CAN DO WITHOUT!
Naughtydread 8 years, 4 months ago
a
Reality_Check 8 years, 4 months ago
Looks like Shameless Shane and the Union Leaders came to an agreement with Butch Stewart and his son Adam on how best to go about cleaning house well before the run-up to the next general election. After all, Christie knows there ain't nothing here that can't be fixed by a free ham or turkey, or colorful PLP T-shirt, given to the redundant worker/supporting voter!
themessenger 8 years, 4 months ago
What is it with Bahamian politicians, wannabe politicians and unionists that they can't seem to grasp the fact that private businesses first responsibility is to their shareholders. They are in business to make money not to provide jobs or prop up corrupt politicians, governments or all for me unionists who make doing business here a nightmare. What law in this country says that a private employer has to keep their doors open, particularly if they're losing money or being harassed by the unions, just to appease the government or the unions executive? Those people have been made redundant and paid their severance in accordance with the law thanks to incompetent meddlers like Obie Ferguson and Shane Gibson. Greed and bully tactics will get you nowhere and in these desperate economic times half a loaf is better than none at all. As you said Mr. Ferguson, those employees have been vindicated under the law of the land. How is your unions unemployment benefits fund looking these days? How are your unemployment numbers looking now Mr. Gibson? Those Sandals employees should be looking for you two with a barrel of hot tar and a sack of feathers. 0
licks2 8 years, 4 months ago
YOU REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND MUCH ABOUT EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS TO YOUR BUSINESS DO YOU? I SEE WHY SANDALS IS MAKING SUCH DUMB AND CHILDISH DICISIONS. . .ONE THAT IS FAST "SHOTING" ITSELF IN THE FOOT. As for you obeying our labour laws. . .the Supreme Court shall show you how wrong you are. . .any HR professional could tell you that. . .no matter your high-handedness now. . .YOU WILL BRING YOUR BRAND DOWN. . .then lets see how your shareholders will like you then. If I was a shareholder I would fire you for your "stupid" and "pig headed" business decisions making. . .if you can't see, you now make it assured that you business will never be at peace in this nation again. . .stakeholders (workers, courts, politicians, the region etc.) will always "SEE" your company as a pirate and exploitive bunch. . .I suspect that the barrel of tar and them feathers will be placed on you by your stakeholders after this SNAFU is over and your poor decision making is placed at the center of their decrease in revenue!
banker 8 years, 4 months ago
You notice how Sandals ignores Shame's letters and the letters from his ministry. They informed the Attorney General and not him, as a direct snub to him.
As for amending the employment laws, it will just drive out more employers. It is already an unfriendly place to do business.
Bahamians will be eating pigeons and coconuts again, and it een long.
licks2 8 years, 4 months ago
How many overseas company (not shady ones out of lawyers offices) you see leaving the Bahamas. . .NONE. . .WITH OTHER BREAKING DOWN THE DOOR TO GET HERE! OUR NATIONAL BRAND IS WORLD-WIDE. . .WE SELL. . .SO SANDALS CAN CARRY ITS YOU KNOW WHAT. . .SOMEONE WILL BE THERE BEFORE THEIR PLANE LAND BACK IN JA! THEN LETS SEE WHO WILL OPEN THEIR ARMS TO THEM. . .WITH THE BAGGAGE THEY WILL CARRY FROM THIS "DIRTY" COURT FIGHT THAT IS COMING!
concernedcitizen 8 years, 4 months ago
we have not increased our stop over visitor numbers since our 1998 level 1,5 million .Everyone else in our region has been gaining DR is kicking our butts w/ 4 million a year ..Believe what you want numbers don,t lie .We have an expensive brand and crappy service ..I have access to the exit surveys in the MOT ,,not a pretty picture .There is sun ,sand and sea all aroun d us we are not that special ,,Cuba has our beaches ,mountains ,rivers and 4000 ,,yes 4000 cays
alfalfa 8 years, 4 months ago
Unreasonable union demands, poor performance for pay, outlandish utility bills for inconsistent service, high crime rate, overall high cost of doing business in the Bahamas, cheaper alternative touristic destinations in the Caribbean. Where do you think this is taking our country, and in particular our Number 1 (maybe number two, because the legal lotto/numbers house ares quickly taking over) industry? Down the tubes.
licks2 8 years, 4 months ago
Are you describing JA or Bahamas? Because if you don't tell me the name of the place you are talking about. . .I would say you are talking about Jamaica mon! You guys can't tell any nation about how to "save" their nation. . .yall wrecked yinna own long time. . .and yinna don't have a clue how to bring it back. . .but thanks for the warning. . .we should take a hint from yall. . .after all. . .yall are experienced at wreaking a nation!
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