The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE incoming hotel union president is targeting a new industrial agreement as priority, amid calls by one defeated rival to hold the leadership's "feet to the fire".

Darren Woods, whose "Team Phoenix" won this week's election, yesterday acknowledged the need also amend the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union's (BHCAWU) constitution to "bring it in line with today's reality".

He told Tribune Business he intends to move "swiftly" to start negotiations on a new industrial agreement with hotel employers, saying: "We have deal with the industrial agreement. That is at the top of the list. We have to engage the Employers Association and/or the employers to start the discussion, taking into consideration legislation enacted under the previous government."

Both the Bahamas Hotel and Restaurant Employers Association and the union have previously confirmed they are behaving as if the terms of the industrial agreement that expired in January 2013 are still in effect. The previous union leadership, led by Nicole Martin, failed to submit a new industrial agreement at least 90 days' prior to that deal's expiry, leading to the current situation.

Mr Woods added: "We also want to amend our constitution. We had a lot of challenges to the constitution and the way the executive council would apply or execute it, and just to bring it in line with today's reality. This year the union is going to be 60 years-old."

While congratulating Mr Woods and his team on their victory, Dave Beckford, a long-time contender for the union leadership and head of "Team Destiny", said there is "a lot of work to do" and urged members to hold the new leadership's "feet to the fire".

"I think that our electrical process has to change. I think there needs to be a set date for nomination and elections. There needs to be a set date for an annual general meeting (AGM)," Mr Beckford said. "Members were still not properly informed about the financial state of the union.

"I also question how is it, for the past nine years, no one from the other teams were able to win any position? This has been happening now for the past nine years. I congratulate the Phoenix Team but there is a lot of work to be done. We still don't know the union's finances, we don't have a contract. The union is very divided, and the school and the washhouse are in disrepair. When you're paying $10 a week you're paying for representation and you have to see the benefits."

Mr Woods told Tribune Business the union is looking to roll-out more benefits for its membership. "We want to establish an assistance programme for our membership because we believe that in times of crisis our members should receive a benefit from the union at some point," he added.

"How we fund it is another thing. We want to make the union more accessible to our membership, and that's why a part of what we want to do is take the union fully digital, where there will be apps and/or web pages in a controlled social media environment where our members will be able to reach the union at various times and receive a response."

Four teams fought for the hotel union's leadership after the Supreme Court earlier this month removed an injunction preventing candidate nominations and voting. That ruling by the court removed an injunction, previously obtained by Mr Beckford and his Team Destiny election candidates, which blocked a nomination process originally scheduled for Tuesday, May 8.