The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) president yesterday asserted he is “making all efforts” to meet with the Prime Minister in a bid to resolve the fate of Grand Lucayan workers sent home without due pay amid continued uncertainty over the resort’s sale.

Obie Ferguson KC told Tribune Business that the hotel and its government-controlled owner, the Lucayan Renewal Holdings special purpose vehicle (SPV), had breached the industrial agreement with the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association (BHMA), which represents the property’s estimated 91 middle management, over how it has treated employees.

Voicing optimism that Philip Davis KC’s intervention will ensure an acceptable settlement is reached, the TUC president nevertheless described talks with the country’s leader as “very, very, very urgent” given the “chilling” impact the situation is having on Grand Lucayan workers and their families - especially their ability to pay bills and plan their lives.

And, expressing surprise at what has occurred, Mr Ferguson told this newspaper that sending staff home without due pay is contrary to how he was told the Grand Lucayan workforce’s interests would be handled during the transition following the resort’s planned sale to Concord Wilshire.

While the US-headquartered developer has yet to receive the property, and take formal possession, Mr Ferguson said it was his “understanding” that BHMA members among Grand Lucayan staff would be “continuously employed” during the transition and subsequent demolition of existing buildings to make way for Concord Wilshire’s $827m redevelopment of the destination.

That, though, is not happening with the TUC president revealing that his phone was “lit up” yesterday with calls from BHMA members at the Grand Lucayan. He added that inconsistent salary payments, and the sending home of staff, have been occurring for at least one to two months but it is “now affecting all” workers.

“I can confirm what they conveyed to me: That they have been sent home without pay,” Mr Ferguson told Tribune Business. “They just called me today and confirmed that to me. I am making all efforts to try and reach the Prime Minister to see whether this matter can be resolved in the interests of the members and in the interests of the country.

“Certainly it is a breach [of the BHMA’s industrial agreement]. My understanding was that they will be continuously employed during this period. That was my understanding, and that is what I communicated to the members. But now I’ve gotten a tremendous amount of calls from them, and they’ve indicated they’ve not been paid fully for a couple of months; it’s been on and off. Then they were told by hotel management they cannot come to work.”

The Government did not respond to Tribune Business’s efforts to obtain comment before press time last night. The fate of Concord Wilshire’s $120m Grand Lucayan purchase, which was unveiled with much fanfare in May 2025, has been shrouded in secrecy for weeks with no updates provided by the Davis administration on how close it is to completion or whether it is still moving forward.

Well-placed Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, yesterday suggested the move to send Grand Lucayan staff home was designed to pave the way for Concord Wilshire to take over the resort and rapidly begin its demolition. Asserting that the sale remains on track, despite the deal being months behind the US developer’s original schedule, they indicated that the problems stem from the botched ownership transition.

“The Government is really making a mess of it. They are treating their people terribly,” one contact said. “The deal is done, and the parties know the way forward. I think it will start in a month.” However, they added that the delayed handover has cooled Concord Wilshire’s original plan and offer to continue paying existing Grand Lucayan staff for an indefinite period.

“I think that if Concord Wilshire had taken over in June when they were supposed to they would have paid everybody for a period of time,” one source said. “Concord Wilshire didn’t take over in June, so Concord Wilshire declined to make payment because they don’t have any advantage. It would have been a losing proposition anyway.”

Thus the responsibility for paying staff, and funding the Grand Lucayan’s monthly losses of more than $1m, has remained with the Government and Bahamian taxpayers. Tribune Business understands that while the resort, and all its property and real estate assets, have been conveyed to Concord Wilshire these assets have yet to be turned over by the Government and its SPV to the private sector developer.

Mr Ferguson, meanwhile, said BHMA members among the Grand Lucayan’s staff have reported receiving “on and off payment” of their salaries for the past one to two months. “It was going very well and they were being paid regular salaries,” he added, “but recently management at the hotel told members not to come to work. It’s been going on for a couple of months and is now affecting all of them.

“At one point it was only some people and they were switching it around. Now, today, my phone was lit up with calls from Grand Bahama. It’s got to the point where it was all the workers. The manager of the hotel told the people not to come.” Mr Ferguson was unable to say how many Grand Lucayan workers have now been sent home, and how many remain at work.

The Tribune this week reported that only security staff largely remain at the property, with others told to go home because the Grand Lucayan has no water supply. Tribune Business previously revealed that the Grand Bahama Utility Company, Freeport’s water supplier and a Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) affiliate, had cut off the property’s water supply due to an unpaid bill said to be between $900,000 and $1m.

Voicing surprise that this situation has occurred under a government-owned entity, Mr Ferguson said of the impact on affected workers: “This does create a problem in the planning of their lives. They have mortgages and other commitments. I think it’s important that we have a meeting, and I am requesting a meeting, to have this matter resolved.

“I’ve made a request to have a meeting with the Prime Minister. He’s the most suitable and appropriate person to meet with. I am reasonably satisfied he will resolve it. I am just hopeful that we can meet very quickly and reach some amicable agreement or settlement for all and sundry. I am going to work assiduously to ensure such an outcome in the best interest of all workers.”

Kwasi Thompson, the Opposition MP for Grand Bahama, told Tribune Business that sent-home Grand Lucayan staff may struggle to access National Insurance Board (NIB) unemployment benefits and other forms of financial assistance because they have not been officially terminated. He branded the situation “a disgrace” and “national embarrassment”.

“What my constituents who are workers of the Grand Lucayan have endured is nothing short of a disaster. Families who were once employed with dignity have been left in limbo, abandoned by a government whose handling of this hotel has been chaotic, dismissive and deeply harmful,” Mr Thompson blasted.

“It is a complete national disgrace how the Government has treated these employees, and everybody in Grand Bahama is completely fed up.” Having slammed the Minnis administration over its failed efforts to sell the Grand Lucayan, Mr Thompson added: “Almost five years later, the people are still waiting, still hurting, still paying the price.

“Every day that passes without a successful hotel redevelopment is another day real people suffer from lost income, lost hope and lost opportunity. This is not abstract policy failure; this is the slow erosion of livelihoods and communities. The mismanagement of the Grand Lucayan has become a symbol of how this government treats Grand Bahama - with disregard and contempt.”