The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE NINE KENTUCKY Fried Chicken (Nassau) restaurants reopened yesterday, with union executives telling Tribune Business a tentative labour agreement had been reached with management. Darren Woods, vice-president of the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Worker's Union (BHCAWU), which represents 300-plus line staff at KFC, told Tribune Business it was expected that there would be a new industrial agreement signed within two weeks. Following five months of contentious negotiations, highlighted by an employee sit-in and an eight-day closure of KFC's nine Nassau restaurants, Mr Woods said employees would still retain most of the benefits they currently enjoy. KFC Nassau had long contended that its current wage and benefits package was "two times higher" than all other fast food brands, proposing that wages be held back to a level that is "more in line with its competitors". Calls placed to KFC's management were not returned yesterday. Mr Woods said that following negotiations on Tuesday: "We were able to come up with a tentative position that had to have been ratified by the employees Wednesday morning. We were able to more or less hold on to a lot of the benefits. We did not have to give up any, but some of them were reduced with a view of reinstatement in the fifth year of the contract. "There were concessions and they have lifespan. We were able to come up with something that was favourable to both sides, where the company was able to get relief and the employees could still maintain, in particular, their current rates of pay, their hours of work, and guaranteed days of work. We agreed to a two-tier system where new employees coming in for a period would be able to work during peak time between lunch and dinner, so that these persons won't be exploited." Mr Woods said that under the two-tier system, new employees will come in at a lower rate of pay than current employees. "There is also what they call an extra worker provision that is suspended until the timeframe runs out on the guaranteed four hours for the new employees coming in. The persons in the system now are guaranteed the seven and a half hours," Mr Woods said. "We were able to maintain the current rates of pay with a freeze in wages for at least the next two to three years. There is an increase coming in the fourth and fifth years, which are the two last years of the contract. Most of the benefits have been deferred for four years. All of the concessions that would have been given will be restored before the expiration of this agreement." Mr Woods said that while the union was happy to have the matter behind it, it was "not business as usual". He said: "It's good to have it behind us, but it's not business as usual because the relationship was strained over the past five months. Some things were said and done; we can't just pick up the pieces and move on. "We understand that management is here, employees are here and the union is here, they aren't going anywhere and we have to work on the relationship going forward. We have seen a different side of Restaurants (Bahamas) that we hope we never have to see again." Mr Woods said KFC would have to focus on its marketing campaign to get back its customer base. "They now have to do a new marketing campaign to get the customers back. The stores were not closed because the union refused to negotiate; the management threw a curve ball," he added. Mr Woods said the union was consulting with its attorneys over the restaurants' closure last week. He added: "We are still looking into the matter of the store being closed for the eight days. Our legal team is looking into that to ensure that the employees get what is entitled to them, because management has said that they don't intend to pay. We will see where that goes." In a statement last week, Restaurants (Bahamas), owner of Nassau's Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) franchise, said its nine locations would remain closed until an industrial agreement with its employees was reached. The company said it was unwilling to pay its employees while its stores remained closed, claiming that the union had directed illegal industrial action, which had caused "serious financial harm" to KFC's business and its employees.