FORMER Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes said yesterday it is “unfair and uncaring” for the Meliá Nassau Beach resort to withhold earned gratuity payments from its workers during these “difficult economic times.”
“It is clear that the workers at Meliá are entitled to their full earned gratuity payments pending a final order from the Supreme Court or a negotiated settlement between the Union executives and management,” Mr Foulkes said in a press statement.
“The fact that Meliá is an all-inclusive resort does not give the management the right to arbitrarily change the terms of the bargaining agreement.
“Many of the workers at Meliá are paid minimum wage and they are dependent on the gratuity to supplement their income to meet their commitments,” he added.
Last week, Minister of Labour Shane Gibson told reporters that he “totally disagrees” with the hotel’s decision to withhold some gratuity payments from workers, saying it is causing “serious concerns” for those employees. He said he wrote to Baha Mar executives asking that they dole out gratuity payments pending the resolution of their court case.
The resort and the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCWU) are locked in a court dispute after Baha Mar executives announced in December a reduction in the standard 15 per cent gratuity rate because it is moving to an all-inclusive model where food and amenities are covered in one price.
Baha Mar has said it was forced to cease the normal gratuity payments at the Meliá but only after 10 months of failed negotiations to bring an agreement with the union on a new arrangement.
Last Wednesday, Baha Mar released a statement on the matter.
“We have repeatedly offered to pay the gratuities to the employees on fair and generous terms that are more generous than other contracts with the hotel union.
“The Ministry of Labour has been tremendous in helping us try to reach even a temporary solution with the union for the payments.
“Sadly, it remains the union, not the hotel, that stands between the employees and their gratuities. We remain willing and able to distribute the gratuities funds immediately upon an agreement with the union,” Baha Mar’s statement added.
On Christmas Eve, Baha Mar and its Meliá resort obtained a Supreme Court injunction barring the hotel union from taking any form of industrial action over the matter.
In February, the Supreme Court upheld this injunction.
The matter is expected to head to trial on May 1.
Comments
TalRussell 9 years ago
Comrade Dion, really now! Wasn't you the reds "voiceless" minister of labour during the mass firing of Bahamalander workers at one them hotel property back in 2008 and 2009?
John 9 years ago
And the slave plantation continues to grow and expand
abe 9 years ago
Seems so.
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TheMadHatter 9 years ago
Wonder why the hotel won't describe in their response to the media - why they feel that the package they have offered the workers is better than anything they have discussed or currently have with the union.
Perhaps even the regular members of the union (you know like the maids and janitors) are not being told what the hotel is offering them in truth - and instead are just being told by the union that "man they offering yall peanuts, stick with our plan". Wonder what could be their reason for withholding that info too - maybe the new plan has no room for sticky fingers?
I don't know either way - it just seems ODD that the hotel would not give at least some hint of WHY they say (in the article) that what they are offering is better and that they are perplexed that it has not been accepted. My thought is that perhaps nobody (except union bosses) have ever even heard of it.
TheMadHatter
DillyTree 9 years ago
Look up the word "gratuity" in the dictionary -- it says nothing about being entitled to one. Enough with this "gimme gimme" nonsense by the employees and unions. Easy solution -- make the hotels pay a liveable wage and make gratuities discretional -- (VOLUNTARY for those with the D+ average)
A gratuity should be earned, not expected. That is part of the reason our level of service across the board in this country has gone to hell in a handbasket as no one cares -- they get their gratuity anyway.
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