Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) General Secretary Darron Woods said that following a series of meetings with Prime Minister Perry Christie and Baha Mar executives, the company withdrew early retirement and voluntary separation packages it previously offered, and will keep a ‘skeleton crew’ employed at the Wyndham Nassau Resort even after it closes.
However, Baha Mar’s Senior Vice President of Government and External Affairs Robert Sands said nothing has changed since the developer made the announcement regarding the packages.
Woods said, “The packages are off the table.
“First and foremost there was no agreement with the union or any discussion with the union to even talk about packages or closure per se.
“Our industrial agreement states that we are the sole bargaining agent for those people and if anything is going to happen to them we should be contacted first to analyze it and see the full impact of what would happen to them.
“Because that was not discussed with us, we told them that can’t happen.”
On July 16, Baha Mar offered employees at the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino early retirement and voluntary separation packages.
Officials said last week that the early retirement and voluntary separation plan was being offered to give workers “maximum control over their personal career decisions” as the resort prepares for a period of construction and reduced occupancy.
The resort will be closed temporarily from September 4 to October 17. The resort has more that 1,000 employees.
Woods said 11 employees from the Food and Beverage and Housekeeping departments will receive packages.
He said one of those workers has health concerns, but the other 10 were very near to the retirement age.
“For those people, we were able to improve the packages that were being offered because originally they were only offering whatever their entitlements were,” Woods said. “We were able to increase it in some instances by $3,000 based on the area that they fall in.”
Sands said employees who are interested in moving on still have just over two weeks to apply for the early retirement and voluntary separation plan.
He was unable to provide the exact number of employees who have applied for the packages to date, but said that the number is significantly higher than Woods indicated.
However, Woods said he was surprised by that comment, adding that the majority of his members plan to return to work when the resort reopens in October.
Woods also said employees were alarmed when Baha Mar offered the packages last week. Baha Mar and hotel union officials plan to meet again before the resort closes in September, according to Woods.
Royston Jones Jr.,
The Nassau Guardian
