All parties were tight-lipped Monday but sources close to the negotiations said that Labour Minister Vincent Peet met with Mr. Bain and Association President J. Barrie Farrington over the weekend in an attempt to resolve the matter. However, that meeting ended with matters still outstanding.
Minister Peet announced in the House of Assembly last Wednesday that the $17 million contract would have been signed last Friday. But that did not happen.
His next indication was that it would have been signed on Monday, but the association and the union were said to be involved in last minute wrangling over specifics of the contract that involved some altercations.
The Journal has learnt that the contract will not even be signed on Tuesday.
The whole matter is said to be causing deep frustration among association members who had hoped to put this situation behind them by now after many months of long, tortuous negotiations.
A senior trade union official said Monday that it was clear that Mr. Bain was trying to “embarrass the government.”
But another source said that Mr. Bain was nitpicking as the major concerns have already been addressed.
An obviously miffed Minister Peet told the Journal Monday that when the contract is ready for signing the press would be informed.
He declined to comment beyond that.
Deemed perhaps the most difficult industrial negotiation in recent history, the multimillion-dollar contract makes provisions for an 8 1/2 percent salary increase per hotel worker over five years plus two lump sum payments – one in the second year of the deal, the other in the fourth year.
The union had asked for a 12 percent salary increase over four years, but the association initially offered 6 1/2 percent, creating increasing tension between the two sides that eventually erupted into threats of industrial action, a strike vote being taken last month and a go-slow called at the end of December.
The go-slow affected three hotels and occurred during the state visit of South African President Thabo Mbeki.
After much pressure, and 16 months of contentious negotiations, the union finally accepted the 8 1/2 percent increase.
The agreement, which affects about 6,000 workers at 11 properties on Paradise Island and New Providence, also provides room for additional benefits and further increases in the remaining years of the contract.
Provisions have also been included for improving the training and education of employees and a commitment to improve productivity standards for all employees and managers.
Minister Peet last Wednesday stressed that the healing process between the two groups could finally begin.
But this too may be delayed due to the new developments.
Meantime, another source involved in the talks insists that the delay is simply the result of time spent “cleaning up the document” and “not that positions have changed.”
“In spite of what the Minister said, the parties still have to get back together to get things done…that’s the way all negotiations go and these things take time,” he said. “Many times there are errors on these documents that need to be corrected,” said the source. “All of us want this behind us now.”
Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
