The Tribune

* Unhappy over furlough move's handling

* Gov't urged to extend temporary lay-offs

* Resort 'putting it all in COVID suitcase'

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government was yesterday urged to extend the COVID-19 temporary worker furlough beyond end-February as the hotel union accused Atlantis of "throwing our industrial agreement out the window".

Peter Goudie, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation's (BCCEC) labour specialist, told Tribune Business he believed the Government would have little choice but to extend its Emergency Powers beyond the end of January to prevent mass redundancies occurring throughout the Bahamian economy.

Arguing that many employers would likely be unable to afford to pay terminated staff what they are due under the Employment Act anyway, due to months of pandemic-related devastation, Mr Goudie said: "I'm sitting here on January 4 wondering if the Government is going to extend the emergency powers.

"I'd hate to see a whole load of people made redundant, and I don't know if employers can afford it. It's tough out there. The problem is we've never been in these damn waters before, and we don't know where we're going. I don't have the answer, and you don't either."

The temporary lay-off, or furlough period, during which companies can send employees home without paying full severance pay or other benefits expires some 30 days after the emergency powers end. The latter is currently due to expire at end-January, which would give employers until the end of the following month to decide whether to recall or fully terminate the thousands still on furlough.

With vast swathes of the Bahamian economy, including many in the hotel and tourism sector, cruise-related businesses and the entertainment sector (bars, nightclubs and cinemas) still closed under the Government's COVID-19 orders, Mr Goudie urged it to protect both jobs and businesses by extending the emergency powers for longer.

"I can only say that I would hope they would extend the emergency powers to protect jobs," he told Tribune Business. "Even if the Government is not paying a lot in unemployment benefit, which it isn't, at least it protects the jobs. I don't have a problem with that because people need their jobs."

The Government's COVID-19 emergency powers suspend the Employment Act's section 28 (c), which requires that an employee who has been sent home must either be recalled after 90 days (13 weeks) or terminated with due severance and other benefits.

Mr Goudie spoke as Darrin Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union's (BHCAWU) president, slammed Atlantis for what he described as unilaterally altering the terms and conditions of his members in returning some of the recalled 2,500 workers to furlough status.

The Paradise Island resort made the move based upon "unfavourable occupancy forecasts" for January 2021, which have been worsened by inadequate airlift and soaring COVID-19 infection rates in the US, but Mr Woods argued that in so doing it had effectively torn up the two sides' industrial agreement.

While the union and hotel industry have lacked a signed, recognised industrial agreement for years, they are operating as if the terms and conditions of the previous one are still in effect. Mr Woods argued that Atlantis had missed out several intermediate steps by immediately furloughing the impacted workers.

"They've thrown everything out of the window," he told Tribune Business. "Our industry is run by occupancy, and persons are rostered by occupancy. Once occupancy drops below 65 percent and 55 percent, persons are supposed to begin working reduced days.

"Once occupancy goes down more, they are supposed to move from reduced days to one week on, one week off. Then, if it continues, you go to furlough. The reduced occupancies do not allow them to go directly to suspension or furlough."

Mr Woods said if Atlantis planned to close a particular outlet, such as a restaurant, six and 13-week notices were required by the industrial agreement. He argued that the resort's latest action represented its third unilateral variation of workers' terms and conditions in a matter of weeks, following the Christmas bonuses and change in when gratuities will be paid to a bi-weekly basis.

Many observers will argue that the union's position is unrealistic given the unique demands and strains imposed by COVID-19, as companies such as Atlantis focus on survival and battling to revive their business given the devastation inflicted by the past nine months.

Mr Woods, though, said the BHCAWU "know the environment we're in", and that its main complaint - like those of other trade unions - was that Atlantis was failing to consult with it before changing employee terms and conditions.

He added that the hotel union initially found out about the furloughs from members who were informed by management, and then received a phone call from Atlantis on Thursday. Formal written notification was only received from the resort on Saturday, and the BHCAWU was yesterday still working on its formal response.

Mr Woods said "a large percentage" of Atlantis employees had been affected by the move to bi-weekly gratuity payments, rather than receiving this money after their shift had ended, as it imposed "a different financial strain" on tipped workers to make ends meet as they awaited the funds.

"They're putting everything in this suitcase with COVID-19 on it, and it's difficult to zip the suitcase because they're putting everything in it," he told Tribune Business. Asked how the hotel union planned to respond, Mr Woods said: "We're addressing this through the proper channels so we can't be accused of being irresponsible, but there's only so much employees can bear.

"These are human beings and they should be treated as such. You can't treat them as objects with no emotion, no feelings. That's all we're asking. The only thing we can do is follow the process, file whatever disputes we need to file, and hope help comes for the employees.

"It's not the greatest way to start 2021. We're continuing where we left off last year. At some point you can do what you want, but not as long as you want, and you will have to give an accounting. There's a day of reckoning coming."

Mr Woods also argued that resorts such as the British Colonial Hilton and Ocean Club, the latter of which recently terminated 90-plus employees, had breached the Government's Emergency Orders by going to full severance rather than placing these workers on temporary furlough.

He said these provisions were designed for the employer's benefit, rather than the employee's, as the former did not have to pay workers their redundancy pay and other benefits even though many had asked for it.

"There has to be a balancing act for everyone, a level playing field for employees. We're not seeing it," Mr Woods argued, adding that the Government seemed to be ignoring the issue.