Miller backs resort and tells union to 'carry their ass'

Wed, Aug 17th 2016, 02:12 PM


Leslie Miller

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.

By Khrisna Virgil, Tribune Deputy Chief Reporter

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