Airline rep: Only 14 Envoy Air workers to be rehired

Sun, Apr 19th 2015, 11:23 PM

The looming redundancies of 48 Envoy Air employees, due to take effect next month, are "a grave injustice", according to the airline workers union president, as the number of post-downsizing vacancies at the airline dwindles.
Envoy Air formerly operated as American Eagle.

Airport Airline and Allied Workers Union (AAAWU) President Nelerene Harding told Guardian Business that the number of jobs available once American Airlines resumes control of operations in Nassau had dropped substantially in the past week. Contrary to earlier estimates from the director of labor, an American Airlines representative confirmed that only 14 vacancies would be made available.

"The director of labor confirmed to me when he came out of the meeting that there were 12 positions that they would continue for British Airways and nine vacancies for American. Excluding that, they would've had 12 persons that would've opted to retire. Now, we're seeing that number decrease. That is a grave injustice," Harding said.

In an e-mail to Guardian Business, Laura Masvidal, American Airlines communications representative for Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, confirmed that the airline would only offer 14 vacancies for the 48 Envoy employees affected by redundancies following American Airline's merger with US Airways.

"As part of its ongoing integration of airport operations following its merger with US Airways, effective May 1, 2015, American Airlines' operations in Nassau will be handled by American Airlines. The airline's operations are currently handled by Envoy.

"As a result of this change, 48 Envoy employees will be affected. All of the affected employees were given the opportunity to voluntarily apply for 14 vacant positions in American Airlines. Effective May 1, 2015, those 14 Envoy employees will be re-hired as American Airlines employees. All Envoy employees affected by this change can be considered as external hires for any open positions," read the statement.

Aside from the redundancies, Harding said that she had already appealed to the director and minister of labor to revisit the country's redundancy laws to prevent what she considers further exploitation of Bahamian employees by foreign companies.
Harding argued that the government gave foreign companies strong incentives with little penalty for redundancies under the current labor laws, stating: "The employer leaves with all of their profits, but for the employees, their years of service just means nothing at the end of the day."

As it stands, the Employment Act sets a 12-year limit on redundancy payments for both managerial and line staff. The law provides managerial staff with one month's salary for each year of employment up to 12 years, while line staff receive a month's salary for every two years of employment up to the 12-year limit upon redundancy.

"It is so sad to see," she said.

Masvidal's statement confirmed that the downsizing would not have an impact on the airline's number of routes into Nassau. The airline currently offers flights into Nassau, Marsh Harbour, Eleuthera, Freeport and Georgetown.

"We have a firm commitment to The Bahamas and its people and our objective is to work together to continue increasing passenger traffic to the islands. Through this process, American is adhering to all labor laws in the Bahamas," said Masvidal.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

 Sponsored Ads