The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

HUNDREDS of job-seekers assembled at Christ the King Anglican Church in Ridgeland Park West yesterday as Sandals Royal Bahamian’s job fair moved into its third day of interviews.

With doors due to open at 9am, nearly 200 hopefuls gathered under a tent in the church’s courtyard to receive instruction on the resort’s application process. This came more than a week after Sandals made more than 600 Royal Bahamian staff redundant.

“This was a smooth and direct process,” said a former Sandals employee who spoke with The Tribune on the sidelines of the job fair. The trained waitress, boasting several years of experience in the field, asked not to be named fearing she would be passed over by the resort.

“Sandals knows exactly what they are looking for. The questions we were asked were done so in a way to verify our history, skills, and attitude towards the resort,” she added.

Another former employee, asking to be identified only as J T said: “I was scared. I know they wanted us to apply, but the way things went down with the redundancies I thought this would be their way of saving face. But it wasn’t.”

The mother-of-two said she felt comfortable moments into the interview.

“Once I sat down and it was acknowledged that I was in the group that was let go last week, the questions just focused on whether or not I would be comfortable working in some other area if I was rehired.”

A third applicant, a seasonal construction worker hoping the resort provides him an opportunity to hold his first “steady job” in about eight years, took issue with the persons tasked with his interview.

“They had Jamaicans in there interviewing us and the one who interviewed me had a pretty stink attitude. Her mannerisms, she was rude and arrogant you understand, like I had to kiss her hip for a job,” said the 32 year old, who did not want to be named.

“She wasn’t pleasant, and she wasn’t a Bahamian. I feel like we should have Bahamians carrying out these interviews. I shouldn’t have to subject myself to some foreigner for some job. I mean, it is what it is, but this isn’t right,” he added.

Requests by this daily for an official comment at the job fair were rejected.

However, the resort’s General Manager Gary Williams later told The Tribune in a telephone interview that Wednesday’s activities “were going very smoothly.”

Mr Williams noted that officials at the fair had expectations of processing up to 300 applicants, but that number could increase.

In a surprising move on August 15, Sandals announced that it had made more than 600 employees redundant as the resort carries out an estimated $4m in necessary repairs.

Many of the workers said they were caught off guard by the news, with scores of them showing up to work in uniform only to be told they no longer had jobs.

Last week, Labour Minister Shane Gibson said he believes Sandals’ actions were an attack on the Bahamas Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (BMAWU), which has fought for years to be recognised as the bargaining agent for Sandals’ employees.

Mr Gibson said he received indication that Sandals would retain 44 Bahamian managers, 13 work permit holders and 44 line staff members to maintain the property during the closure.

Sandals and the members of the BMAWU have been in a standoff for most of the last year over labour issues at the resort.

On Wednesday, the resort sought to fill vacancies in its food and beverage departments. The job fair is expected to end later today.