The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union president Darren Woods said members are now on work to rule as he promised further action if concerns are not met.

Mr Woods said the union is in its second phase of industrial action, a “blackout” period he said could exist indefinitely.

Yesterday’s press conference came after members protested at the Sidney Poitier Bridge last week.

“Martin Luther indicated that a man cannot ride your back if you are standing up, and so we are calling our members to action,” Mr Woods said. “That is from the clubhouse in the east to Lyford Cay in the west. We are now on full-fledged industrial action.”

He said work to rule ensures members only work according to their job description and no more. He noted that anyone who attempts to prevent members from exercising their rights will be met with “vicious and ferocious retaliation”.

The union is taking action because it said negotiations with The Bahamas Hotel and Restaurant Employers Association for employees in the tipping category to get a salary increase were going poorly.

 The union wants all members to get a pay increase, saying more than 5,000 employees have been affected by the association’s failure to give a pay increase.

 “The blackout could go from tonight to tomorrow to something different, it depends on how they receive it,” Mr Woods said. “Because I say it again, if any of our members are prevented from exercising their rights, then all the gloves off.”

  Stephanie St Fleur, an employee of Atlantis for 25 years, expressed her grievances at yesterday’s press conference.

 “I’ve been there for 25 years. From 2013, no raise,” said Ms St Fleur. “The government raised minimum wage, but minimum wage is not a livable wage.”

 “You go to the food store right now, people have to nip and pick, you know, between groceries, between light bill, between taking care of their children, and you mean to tell me my employer, who I laboured for the past 25 years, giving up my weekends, giving up my holidays, giving up time away from my children, don’t think that I deserve to get this raise?

 “You can’t go to the bank with your basic salary. You cannot get anything working in a hotel with your basic salary from the banks. So why am I not entitled to or deserve this increase? Why have I laboured for the past 25 years making sure you meet your bottom line?”

 In ending the meeting, Mr Woods “rang the bell” to signal the beginning of the industrial action.