Miller backs resort and tells union to ‘carry their ass’

Leslie Miller

As of Wednesday, August 17, 2016

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

TALL Pines MP Leslie Miller yesterday railed against the tactics of the Bahamas Maintenance and Allied Workers Union, saying the BHMAWU “held a gun to the head” of Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort executives and is now reaping what it has sown with the “unfortunate” job losses of more than 600 resort employees.

During an impassioned interview, Mr Miller said despite the calls for the Christie administration to intervene on behalf of the redundant workers, there is “not one damn thing” the government can do as the resort is privately owned.

In a word of advice to the union and those who believe they are free to do as they please under private ownership, the former Cabinet minister said they should all “carry their ass” and work someplace else if they are not pleased with the way resort owner Gordon “Butch” Stewart runs his business.

Asked if he believed the union’s July protest, which involved parking heavy-duty trucks in the road to block off sections of West Bay Street near Sandals, had anything to do with the redundancies, Mr Miller said “absolutely”.

“What spurred the man to do what he did sending all those people home is those big trucks,” Mr Miller told The Tribune when he was contacted. “Because you are a foreigner that don’t make you any less than a Bahamian.

“Sandals is not the government’s property. It isn’t BEC or Water and Sewerage or any government ran place. As the union it should not have done what it did to embarrass the executives of the hotel. It was not the right and proper thing to do.

“I don’t think it was right to send so many people home and I would ask him to please take all the workers back once the renovations are complete.

“But to me it was him sending a clear signal that the union could not dictate to him how to conduct his business.”

He continued: “If they didn’t like it, they could have carried their ass and work someplace else. But they can’t go around doing this foolishness. They held a gun to the man’s head with his own business. The unions must understand this cannot and will not work.”

On Monday, many of the workers said they were caught off guard by the news, with scores of them showing up to work in uniform only to be told they no longer had jobs.

The employees received their severance packages at Christ the King Anglican Church and the resort’s Cable Beach location. A source connected to the resort said the average payout to line staff was $6,105.

The lowest payout in this category was $758 and the highest payout was $22,717, The Tribune was told.

According to the well-placed source, the average payout for supervisors was $20,614, with the highest payout being $34,747 and the lowest payout was $4,626.

It is unclear if all the terminated employees will be rehired when the resort re-opens in October after renovations, however a source close to the property clarified earlier statements, telling The Tribune yesterday that staff who were made redundant will have first preference for interviews.

The situation drew rebuke from Labour Minister Shane Gibson who said the government had very little notice of the Sandals’ decision to make the 600 employees redundant.

However, Mr Gibson’s suggestion was denied by a source connected with Sandals who told The Tribune that high-ranking officials of the resort informed Prime Minister Perry Christie of the intention to make employees redundant.

During a communication in the House of Assembly on Monday Mr Gibson said: “It was with deep disappointment that the Ministry of Labour received a letter from Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort, informing us that the contracts of more than 600 employees would be terminated today as a result of Sandals’ closure.

“My ministry first learned about the closure on Tuesday, August 1, with the rest of the country when information was leaked to the media and printed in a local newspaper. I requested a meeting with officials from Sandals on August 3.

“We met with Chief Executive Officer of Sandals Resorts International Adam Stewart as well as members of his executive and legal teams. During that meeting, we asked them to consider laying employees off instead of making them redundant. They told us they would consider this suggestion and get back to us within 24 hours. However, after not hearing from them, my ministry wrote Sandals a letter on August 4, requesting the resort’s latest position and further details on the proposed closure.

“Sandals has yet to respond to my ministry,” Mr Gibson added. “Instead resort representatives wrote the attorney general and copied the Ministry of Labour on Friday, August 12, informing us of their decision.”

Mr Gibson said the government has been advised that the resort will be closed for eight weeks as it carries out renovations because hotel officials said the work could not be carried out in the presence of guests.

The resort, he said, indicated that it would retain 44 Bahamian managers, 13 work permit holders and 44 line staff members to maintain the property during the closure.

theplpsucks 7 years, 8 months ago

this is what happens when foolish people follow the union bosses who live in lyford cay and lead them down the path of destruction. Times are hard and people need jobs, protesting because they didnt get a raise with trucks made them lose their jobs. Blame the union not the hhotel

URD 7 years, 8 months ago

Leslie needs to "carry his ass". Tell him go pay BEC, BOB and all the other entities that he owes. He makes me sick!

DillyTree 7 years, 8 months ago

I think Leslie Miller is a horrible excuse for a human being most of the time, but I actually agree with him on this one!

Unions have become corrupt and greedy and do not do their members any favours with their big mouths, ignorant manners and thuggish tactics. They have no one to blame but themselves. While the union is running to court while running its mouth, perhaps the laid off employees might consider going to court and suing the union for putting them in this mess.

And while we're talking smack about "foreigners" running our country, let's take a good hard look at ourselves. How many jobs do Bahamians provide for Bahamians? Soon there will be no foreign businesses left to blame as we make it increasingly hostile to conduct business in the Bahamas just so we can be big shot entitled Bahamians. Then what will we have? Nothing. Not a damn thing.

Alex_Charles 7 years, 8 months ago

this is the Bahamas, stop making sense or "carry your ass."

licks2 7 years, 8 months ago

Some one in the PLP needs to tell this man to keep his trap shut!!

DEDDIE 7 years, 8 months ago

As much as I detest collective bargaining and have no taste for civil disorder, Sandals also carry some responsibility here also. The workers established a union in a legal manner, recognized by the Labor Department. It's obvious to everyone that Sandals didn't want a union in its work place. I own a company and rightfully so, I don't want one in my company but once the law to established one was followed then I will concede to workers' legal right for representation. Sandals most likely will have to concede or pay for wrongful dismissal.

licks2 7 years, 8 months ago

Phew. . .I was beginning to think that nobody saw the full import of sandals childish practices! How that she refused to comply with laws of this nation. . .doing as she dang well please in the face of even our Supreme Court rulings. . .plus having them charged before the court for union busting tactics. . . now they want to close down to get rid of workers they don't want. . .and made the most dumbest move by making their places redundant. . .places they can't refill again. . .according to law! THEY WILL PAY. . .THEIR BEHAVIOUR IS JUST TOO BLANTANT FOR THEM TO NOT PAY. . .VERY SLOPPY DEALINGS THAT WILL COST THEM PLENTY IN COURT AND WITH EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS!

Alex_Charles 7 years, 8 months ago

CYFA king man.... Our very own Donald Trump lol.

TalRussell 7 years, 8 months ago

Comrades! It's time to put Sandals actions under the hard evidence forensic microscope of what the realistic expectations should be for the public to believe what is coming out Sandals headquarters, the ministry of labour and the tourism ministry?
I am saying that long before the Pot cake Leslie, called out for the PLP Cabinet to back Sandals and to tell workers to carry their asses, the public shouldn’t have expected to experince a form of magic journalism to dig deep to uncover the truth, even when the hard facts are quite visible. But what more to expect when newly recruited journalists are being told on hiring day that your reporting strengths is not to dig deep for the hidden facts that can lead to what the people in the story don’t want the public to know, and your only job is to gather and report as stenographers as in the art of note taking news-reporting secretaries.
I mean how deep would the dig have to be to see why the whole truth is not being told to the workers, or the public?

banker 7 years, 8 months ago

I'm not a fan of Potcake, but I think that he has it right this time. The trucks were the last straw. And the funny part was that they weren't road-legal! How smart are you to drive a truck and park it on the carriageway and not have a proper licence, insurance or documentation. Who are these mental midgets?

Agree on news-reporting secretaries. Then again, in this country, it pays not to 'vestigate too deep. You keep ending up at the same place, and it een healthy.

TalRussell 7 years, 8 months ago

Comrade Banker, I am no fan of unions but you have ask if they're still not an necessary evil. Still even with their union membership cards in pocket a foreigner may have just gotten away with overnight canceling the paycheques to 600 of his native workers and hundreds if not thousands of workers family members dependent on those paycheques?
As a banker you now something about where forensics can lead an investigation and I have no doubt there was a problem brewing at the Cable Beach's property long before them dump trucks appeared on the scenes, insured or not didn't make a difference.
If their past perforances hold true, I sure as hell wouldn't want workers to hold their breaths waiting for Crown Ministers Obadiah and Shane to go seeking the true motivation that lead to 600 workers paycheques having been canceled on them and their family members. In fact I think the government had to have had advance documented communications in their files about a pending shutdown of all business at the resort?

banker 7 years, 8 months ago

I have absolutely no doubt that there was some union-busting going on. Unequivocally. Without a doubt. Was it justified? Who knows. There were signs that the Nassau operation wasn't meeting their KPI's (Key Performance Indicators). There were street whispers that profitability had taken a downturn.

Unfortunately, both for unions and for the company, the workers are mere pawns. And they are the ones that have a real life outside a balance sheet with kids to feed, cars to keep up, mortgages to pay. I understand that, and it is heartbreaking to me, how we as Bahamians were NOT GIVEN A CHANCE to pursue the dream of financial democracy and independence. Our independence was supposed to guarantee that. Instead, the old UBP Stafford Sands economic model was continued, because quite frankly, our first independence government didn't have a clue about anything. Look at what Loftus Roker did to education.

It's the poor and common people who always suffer. But unions today are not the answer. There has not been a single case that I can recall where unions have mitigated an economic disaster for the common folk. Look at Tiger's employees from City Markets -- my aunt used to cook there for their lunch food. If you audited the unions, would you find a large strike fund? No. What will you find? Bloated salaries for Obie and his henchman.

Nobody, including the unions and government gives jack sh*t for the ordinary Bahamian. Their NIB old age pension fund is unfunded by over a billion dollars due to government spending. The economy is monolithic with no upward mobility. The poor people. Education and exit are the only ways for a vast majority of Bahamians to live a decent, financially fulfilled life like the vast number of North American inhabitants. There are no Bahamian patriots, just the Trumpian kind who lie and sing hosannas of the PLP criminals.

Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 8 months ago

Most of the union members made redundant are just too stupid to realize that Christie uses Miller to redirect or deflect political fall out of any kind away from himself. Christie makes sure Miller is paid handsomely each month from the Public Treasury for saying profoundly daft things at the right time in order to get Christie off the hook for the political heat associated with just about anything. Christie is known to often tell Miller to get out there and take the heat for him by stirring things up with his usual antics and outrageous but silly public comments. Christie has said many time: "Miller ain't just any 'ole mangy flea infested pot cake - he's my pot cake! And when I unleash him to draw plenty attention to himself and away from me by barking loudly, he does just that, for me. Man, you gotta know I love my loyal loud barking pot cake and I make sure he gets fed well!"

Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 8 months ago

Re-post: What all of those redundant workers and union leaders haven't been told yet is that the Sandals Cable Beach property has been losing money for years now and will most likely not be re-opening. The property is probably worth more as a condominium development and no doubt certain of the political elite will press to partner with the new owner/developer. Of course Christie's son is likely be appointed exclusive real estate agent/broker for the selling of the new condo units to wealthy foreigners. Who knows, Christie's new found Chinese friends may even be the new owners of the property and possibly involved in its renovation/construction. It seems Gordon "Butch" Stewart and his son Adam have cast their eyes towards a new Sandals development in Cuba. No, no, no, no....please say all of dis it ain't so!

John 7 years, 8 months ago

This is obviously a house cleaning exercise where sandals is attempting to get rid of the 'troublemakers' and other persons they feel do not fit in to their business model. These are lean economic times and all businesses are finding themselves in difficult economic times. Many local businesses are experiencing sales declines by as much as 40%. And overhead including taxes have escalated. But Sandals, by their own admission, is expected to have a better than average Fall/Winter Season. This is a two sided coin where it is always unfortunate when any worker loses their job, but also business owners who take great risks have to do what they feel is in the best interest of the company to ensure the company continues to survive.

BaronInvest 7 years, 8 months ago

Good article to educate yourself why it is important to let foreigners into your country... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/w...">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/w...

sealice 7 years, 8 months ago

the PLP screwed up with the permits for their dolphin island so this was the inevitable next step.

TalRussell 7 years, 8 months ago

Comrades! Since Dolphin Island has been mentioned, why have both the PLP and Red Movement regimes signed over some 17 - 20 islands for foreigner owned hotels and cruise lines to use exclusively for their own guests? Not only do they supply all they need to entertain, feed and pleasure their private islands guests directly from their own hotels and cruise ships but no native visitors to these islands are welcomed. And did you know when the days events are over , they pack up everything not nailed down be be taken with them back to their own hotels and cruise ships? Comrades, whats government allowed to be going on over at Cabbage Beach, Paradise Island - is not some beach rights isolated case.
Soon all beaches and islands will be government classified to be "off limits" to the natives.
I hear the going price for these 17-20 private islands being signed over to the foreigners were a whopping $1 fee payable to taxpayers?

TigerB 7 years, 8 months ago

This is almost a similar event that took place some years here in Freeport. I still remember that morning in 2005. A major strike was going on between the hotel owner Mr. Buddermyer and his staff. The cry was he didnt pay national insurance for the workers and some other accusations. I worked that morning, crowd control. The workers block the entrance to both sides of the international Bazaar and the business in the Bazaar complained that their customer couldn't get in the Bazaar. The maids surround several cars that was blocking the way into the Bazaar preventing the wrecker driver from moving them. The Bazaar had nothing to do with the hotel property, but the Chant was still "Buddymyer gat ta go!!" led by the union. They pumped up the people. Well months later hurricane Wilma passed by destroying the hotel. Buddymyer didn't bother to fix it, but left town citing it was to much to fix it. To this day it was never fix, It is still an eye sore now, along with the Towers. The people believed the union was God I guess, but it was a private hotel. We have this attitude that once we in a union we straight, but the union didn't put a dime in the man hotel, or the workers for that matter. When recession came in 2008-2009 many of our residence left here to look for work in other islands... simply because the hotel closed. Another situation years ago was the Container Port, they tried to force the hand of the company top get a union. The fella shut down for several days, soon Perry Christie was here begging for them to reopen, I have mixed emotions when a matter like Sandals occur. Maybe we need to start owing our own things then we will understand what it means to "Run my company".

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