Dispute makes PM ‘uncomfortable’

As of Monday, March 30, 2015

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Imagine that. Prime Minister Perry Christie is “very uncomfortable” with the dispute between the Melia Resort and the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union.

With the resort set to open in just a matter of days, the Prime Minister seems to be tiptoeing around the issue of the union members standing their ground in wanting to retain the 15 per cent gratuity that they have been receiving for the past 30-plus years.

Without saying it, the prime minister is wishing that the union would back off because the government and the country cannot afford to allow “small issues that I think can be resolved” to bring about industrial action “at a critical time”. He is basically talking to the union members when he says thousands of lives are tied to Baha Mar’s success and that

“The country is looking forward for the relief Baha Mar will give.”

How can anyone take Mr Christie seriously when the Government has its own contentious dispute with Baha Mar and is refusing to pay the balance owed the resort owners for the realignment of West Bay Street and the new road leading from John F Kennedy Drive.

What will it be Mr. Prime Minister? Will the Government quietly pay Baha Mar the remainder of its money before opening day and then leave BACAWU members to fend for themselves?

The Bahamian public needs to know.

GEORGE THOMPSON

Nassau,

March 29, 2015.