The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner has questioned whether the Christie administration was “content” in accepting the termination of more than 600 Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort employees, as she blamed the government’s “incompetence” and “laissez-faire” approach for the country’s unemployment issues.

Mrs Butler-Turner also castigated Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller over his comments to The Tribune on Tuesday, when he said that the union representing the redundant workers should “carry their ass.” She said this “abusive” language should be condemned by Prime Minister Perry Christie.

The shadow minister of labour also accused Mr Christie of showing “utter disregard” for the employees and their families because he has remained silent on the matter.

She said this situation coupled with the “belligerent and incompetent” manner in which the unopened Baha Mar resort was handled is proof that the government has little respect or regard for Bahamian workers or the well-being of their families.

“Now the government has failed miserably to protect the interests of the 600 employees made redundant at Sandals in New Providence,” she said in a press statement yesterday. “How many employees will the resort rehire? How many will be permanently laid off? Will those workers associated with any particular union be penalised by not being rehired?

“Because of the incompetence and laissez-faire approach to governance of the PLP, thousands of jobs have been lost on this government’s watch. Instead of 10,000 new jobs in its first year, a record number of jobs have been lost and our economy is in shambles. Our downward spiral continues.

“With the Sandals employees and the nation needing to hear from the head of government on such a large scale redundancy, which may have a significant impact on the economy, Prime Minister Perry Christie remained silent. Why did he have nothing to say? This showed his utter disregard for the employees and their families.

“The PLP MP for Tall Pines used abusive language to talk about the employees and to denigrate Bahamians in need of hope. His words should be condemned by the prime minister.”

Mrs Butler-Turner said as for Labour Minister Shane Gibson’s part, he seemed confused and caught off guard. She branded his comments regarding the redundancies as “mostly nonsensical babble” and lacking clarity about how the government intends to respond to this situation.

On Tuesday, the minister told The Nassau Guardian that he believed Sandals executives did not inform the government over their decision because resort executives did not want to talk to the government about possible ways to prevent more than 600 people losing their jobs.

Little notice

The day before, Mr Gibson had told parliamentarians that the government got very little notice and that it first learned of the closure on Tuesday, August 1, with the rest of the country when the information was leaked to the press. He said he then requested a meeting with Sandals officials on August 3.

He said they met with Chief Executive Officer of Sandals Resorts International Adam Stewart and members of his executive and legal teams. He said at the time the government asked Sandals to consider laying employees off instead of making them redundant.

He said the government was assured that executives would consider this suggestion and get back to them in 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.”

However, Mrs Butler-Turner posed questions about this position and said it appeared that there was very little respect for the Christie administration.

She said: “I again raise a number of questions to which the government needs to urgently respond in the interest of the employees of Sandals and their families.

“When did the government know of the impending two-month closure of the resort? The government should or would have been aware of plans for a multi-million dollar upgrade. As such, they should have asked or should have known about the possible affect of these renovations on employment at Sandals.

“If the renovations are part of a planned upgrade, why the need to issue redundancy letters to the majority of their employees? If the hotel expects to reopen why were the workers not given vacation leave?

“How many foreign staff members were made redundant? How many of the retained staff are Bahamian and how many are non-Bahamian? Why did the minister of labour not call an immediate meeting with the owners and or managers rather than write a letter and not receive a timely response?”

She added: “It appears that there is little respect for the current government and the minister of labour. It also appears that the relationship between Sandals and the government has broken down.

“Why is the government so content to accept the fact that approximately 600 employees have been separated with no assurances given regarding re-engagement of these workers?”

She also questioned whether the government has any intent to bring all stakeholders to the table to protect the interest of Bahamians who have been given no satisfactory answers regarding their future employment status.

On Monday, Trade Union Congress President and attorney for the Bahamas Hotel Maintenance and Allied Workers Union Obie Ferguson said he would file a lawsuit on behalf of the more than 600 terminated workers for “union busting” and “unfair dismissal”.