The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The hotel union's president yesterday said the industry's re-opening, and easing of the 14-day mandatory quarantine, are "more important" to workers than the unemployment benefits extension.

Darrin Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union's president, told Tribune Business that while furloughed resort workers were "grateful" for the Government's decision to extend welfare assistance beyond yesterday's planned expiry they preferred to return to work so they can provide for themselves.

Emphasising that workers across the Bahamian hospitality industry, not just the hotel sector, "don't want to be seen as ungrateful", Mr Woods said the extension was creating "mixed feelings" given the continued welfare dependency of many in the tourism industry.

"What they're wanting to know is what kind of plans are there to open up the industry so that business can flourish and they can take care of themselves. That's what has not been heard," the hotel chief told this newspaper.

"Speaking with a couple of resorts, that's what they're waiting for. Their concern is the Vacation in Place (VIP) 14-day quarantine rule because that is hindering guests wanting to come back since it restricts their freedom of movement.

"While we're grateful for the extension in unemployment assistance, what's more important going forward is to have a full re-opening of the industry and economy at large. That's really what we'd like to hear," Mr Woods added.

"As opposed to the extension of unemployment benefit, we need a plan in place for the full re-opening of the industry so that more people can be gainfully employed. That's what people want; to go back to work safely and be able to provide for themselves, because this is assistance and not full income replacement. We need to know what's happening because there ain't nobody coming with VIP."

Dionisio D'Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told this newspaper earlier this week that discussions between his ministry, the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Health had settled on an acceptable plan for easing the 14-day quarantine requirements but without endangering COVID-19 related health and safety.

Hinting that this would involve testing of tourists both upon their arrival and during their stay, Mr D'Aguilar said an announcement could come as early as this week, but nothing has occurred so far. He added that the Government was still determining the mechanisms and procedures for how the quarantine alternative will be rolled-out.

In the meantime, a number of Atlantis employees have begun to push for full severance packages as frustration grows over the absence of an opening date for the mega resort. However, Atlantis says it has no plans at the moment to offer these, while the Employment Act provision that says employers must either recall or pay severance to workers furloughed for 90 days has been suspended until end-November under the COVID emergency powers orders.

Mr Woods said the union's last industrial agreement with resort employers, the terms of which they are following despite its expiration, permit members to seek severance pay from employers if they have been furloughed for ten weeks or more. He acknowledged, though, that the COVID orders may cut across this even though Baha Mar and the British Colonial Hilton have terminated staff during this time.

The Government plans to allocate $45m to the continuation of its COVID-19 support initiatives after the move was approved by the Minnis Cabinet. K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, said both the Government-funded unemployment benefit and various private sector assistance initiatives will be further extended beyond today's intended expiry.

Acknowledging that the tourism industry's delayed return meant the extension was inevitable, Mr Turnquest said the unemployment benefits scheme "will feature adjustments" and be vetted to ensure Bahamians who have returned to work are excluded from welfare support.

Peter Goudie, The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation's director responsible for labour matters, yesterday hailed the latest unemployment benefits extension as “great news”, adding that it would have been disastrous if companies had to make staff redundant.

He told Tribune Business: “I can’t say anything other than it's great. To me, we’re just facing disaster if we have to make everybody redundant. I have to think that at the moment this ties into what minister D’Aguilar said about reopening the tourism economy. I’m glad they did it and I can’t say anything other than this I great.

"With everything that has happened thus far, this is just positive, but if this thing extends it will come down to whether or not the government can support it. We are in trouble, just like everybody else. I noticed in Canada they extended free programmes for people that don’t qualify for unemployment any more, so this is just great news.”

The Government's latest unemployment benefit extension will likely run through to either the beginning or end of November, which will coincide with the furlough period's present expiry and when major hotels will have taken decisions on when to re-open.