The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The hotel union president says “the people’s spirit has not been broken” despite the court-ordered block on industrial action at Atlantis remaining in effect for another three months.

Darrin Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union’s (BHCAWU) president, told Tribune Business that the Supreme Court injunction’s continuation until at least March 10, 2020, represents “just another speed bump in the road” that workers must deal with.

He said the union and its attorneys had little choice but to seek an adjournment of the case when they, together with Atlantis’s legal representatives, appeared on Friday before Justice Keith Thompson for a hearing on the emergency bar obtained by the Paradise Island-based resort following Thanksgiving Day’s picketing.

Mr Woods said Atlantis had served key legal papers, including the “statement of claim” detailing the particulars of its case, on the union less than 24 hours before both sides were due at the Supreme Court. He added that the union and its advisers needed more time to properly respond, but the earliest date for a new hearing before Justice Thompson is March 10 - some three months away.

“The matter was adjourned for three months,” the hotel union chef confirmed to this newspaper. “We were served with some papers late on Thursday, and to assess them properly we had to get an adjournment. The earliest date we could get is March 10.

“We got something around 1pm, and something at 4pm - an amended statement of claim and something. For us to be able to respond to it, and with the matter due to be heard at 11am the following morning, you have to appreciate nothing could be done.”

The union, in a note issued to its several thousand members on Friday, warned them that they must continue to abide by the injunction’s terms for another three months. The outcome of last week’s events effectively bans them from taking any form of industrial action that impacts Atlantis, its guests and operations for much of the peak winter tourism season - including Christmas and the New Year.

Sheila Edden-Burrows, the hotel union’s general secretary, wrote: “Please be advised that the Atlantis versus the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union injunction remains in effect until the matter is heard in court on March 10, 2020, at which time you will be advised.

“Until such time, the union is restricted from entering the property. The union and its members are prohibited from picketing, inciting or intimidating the employees of the resort. The president would like for all union members to be guided accordingly.”

The injunction, for which a “certificate or urgency” was filed by Atlantis and its attorneys, Ferron Bethell and Camille Cleare of Harry B Sands & Lobosky, bars the union, its officers and members who do not work at Atlantis from entering the property, “picketing or besetting” it. They also cannot “induce, incite or intimidate” Atlantis employees or guests, or impede access to the resort in any way.

Mr Woods, though, said the union and its members were unbowed by the continued injunction. “We’re chugging along, chugging along, chugging along,” he told Tribune Business. “The one thing they haven’t broken is the people’s spirit, I can tell you that.”

He reiterated the union’s position that the issues that led to the Thanksgiving Day picketing, namely the proposed changes to the shift system in Atlantis’s housekeeping department and the outsourcing of the resort’s laundry functions, together with recent terminations, were separate from negotiations on an industry-wide industrial agreement.

“The thing was to get these matters resolved one way or another,” Mr Woods added of the Atlantis-specific issues. “They’ve [the resort] resolved to look into them.” This occurred after meetings between the hotel union and Atlantis management, some of which took place with Department of Labour officials present.

However, Mr Woods said the union was now watching to see whether Atlantis and the other resorts that make up the industry bargaining agent, The Bahamas Hotel and Restaurant Employers Association (BHREA), will use the Thanksgiving Day events to “stall” negotiations on an industry-wide industrial agreement.

While confirming that both parties have now signed off on 36 out of 48 clauses in the new deal, Mr Woods told Tribune Business: “The negotiations are still ongoing. We’ll see where they go, and what happens in terms of the court in giving us dates in early March, and whether it causes them to lose steam around the negotiating table.

“We want to see if they’ll use it as a tactic to stall industrial agreement negotiations. We negotiate with the association, not individual properties. We’ll see if they’re going to negotiate in good faith and sign an industrial agreement we can get registered. These are two separate issues. These negotiations are totally different from the matter at hand with Atlantis. We’ll have to see how they approach it.”

Mr Woods also gave an insight into the pressures building up inside private sector unions as a result of the deals their public sector counterparts are obtaining from the Government. He referred specifically to the $1,400 lump sum payment that Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU) members are due to receive pre-Christmas, with the Prime Minister also talking about a public sector minimum wage rise.

“It looks like the hotel sector’s getting left out,” Mr Woods added. “It’s kind of disheartening. We’re praying for the best. We know it will all work out in the end; it’s just how we get there. This is just another speed bump in the road.”

Fred Mitchell, the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PL) chairman, yesterday accused Dr Minnis of trying to appease the public sector unions with promises of an unspecified minimum wage rise as the Government seeks to quell rising labour discontent. No such increase is being considered for the private sector, the Prime Minister conceded.