By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
The hotel union’s president said yesterday that employers were coming up with creative new attacks against it, adding that there seems to be “a real push to frustrate the union”.
Nicole Martin said the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) was not backing down.
She added that the union was anticipating a Supreme Court ruling in the Meliá gratuity dispute on July 16.
“As it relates to the Meliá workers, of course we have to keep our eyes open there,” Ms Martin said. “Lawyers are doing what they think is necessary to protect the workers.
The judge’s ruling is expected on July 16. One way or the other it has to be resolved.”
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 union 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.
“We do have a lot of work to do in the hotel industry. We have been dealing with a lot of court battles. We’re not giving up. As the attacks become more intense we have to intensify our response and become a little more proactive to prevent some of the attacks on our union,” said Ms Martin.
“There seems to be a real push to frustrate the hotel union. They don’t want to negotiate with us. They know that they cannot beat the hotel union’s negotiating team so they try to come creative with new attacks. They are trying to frustrate us but they are not. We are not going anywhere. You can’t keep pushing a man in the corner and expect that he doesn’t come out swinging.”
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