The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

A NEARLY four-hour meeting among Department of Labour officials, the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union and The Bahamas Hotel and Restaurant Employers Association failed to resolve issues between the union and the association, but Labour Director Howard Thompson said the association is “crunching the numbers” in hopes of concluding negotiations on a new industrial deal.

The Department of Labour is mediating negotiations between the two sides.

Both parties met to deliberate on Thursday and Friday, but Mr Thompson said negotiations between them need a miracle.

“After four hours of intense and often time spirited negotiations between the executives of the Hotel Owner Associations and the executes of the Hotel Union,” Mr Thompson said, “the night ended in a stalemate. No deal. No agreement.”

The Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union had recently announced that its members were on work to rule, with promises of further action if concerns are not met.

The union is taking action because 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.

Mr Thompson, however, said Friday’s meeting ended on a “slight positive note”.

“The night ended on a slightly positive note where the executives of the Hotel Owner’s Association asked for more time to go back and speak with their accountants to ‘crunch the numbers’ and see if they could possibly agree to the union’s very slightly reduced position on base salary increases across the board,” he said.

He said the hotel’s owner’s association is expected to give a verdict before 12 noon today.

The meditation team consists of the Ministry of Labour’s external counsel, Keenan Johnson, Father James Palacious, and Bernard Evans.

Mr Thompson said the Department of Labour’s involvement in bringing the two sides to an agreement signals the government’s desire to discourage any industrial action that might disrupt The Bahamas’ largest industry at this time.