By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
TOURISM Minister Obie Wilchcombe yesterday urged the Melia Nassau Beach Resort and hotel union to resolve their ongoing gratuity dispute, adding: “This can’t go on for ever.”
“This has to be resolved. My view is you sit in a room and resolve and talk as long as it takes,” Mr Wilchcombe said. “There must be resolution. Let’s find a way to do that. It’s imperative that that gets done as quickly as possible.”
The gratuity battle between the union and Meliá/Baha Mar came to a head last December. Baha Mar said it had been forced to cease the normal 15 per cent gratuity payments at the Meliá, after 10 months of negotiations failed to reach an agreement with the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) on a new arrangement.
Baha Mar executives said the hotel had been forced to take unilateral action, changing the gratuity rate and method for its calculation, to keep the hotel “economically viable and preserve jobs”.
The resort wants to reduce the standard 15 per cent gratuity rate because it is moving to an all-inclusive model where, in common with the likes of Sandals and Breezes, rooms, food and amenities are covered in one price.
Last week, the BHCAWU filed a trade dispute over the ongoing dispute, arguing that the Baha Mar-owned property was trying to force them to accept a reduced 8 per cent gratuity.
“There is a way in which it is done. It depends on your approach,” said Mr Wilchcombe. “Breezes has an approach and Sandals has a different approach.
“With Breezes they share everything, and so you have look at the paradigm that is chosen. The truth is that Bahamians are accustomed to certain considerations, and certainly gratuity has been one. How you arrange it is what has to be done.
“I think the sides have to sit down, talk and get it done. We are on the brink of a major breakthrough in the tourism industry. We have Baha Mar that is set to open its doors on March 27. What we have to do is get our nation back out there as a destination with diversified inventory that people would want to come to and feel secure.”
He added: “What we don’t what to do is be a part of the global discussion about disquiet in the hotel sector. The Meliá group has to appreciate that we are a country and have certain conditions that are enshrined, and certain things that are given to our people.
“We have to find a way to match their culture with ours to ensure that we can move forward. I think it is imperative that when people come to the Bahamas that while we welcome Meliá, it’s a wonderful brand, let’s work these things out. Often the issues are so small they lead to negativity that not only affects us at home but also abroad.”
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