In the wake of industrial tension at Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in New Providence, General Manager of Restaurants (Bahamas) Ltd. Gabriel Sastre has assured that the industrial agreement in place will be honoured.
Mr. Sastreﾒs statement came after supervisors of the popular fast food chain gave the companyﾒs executives 30 days to resolve outstanding industrial issues or face industrial action.
The development came on the heels of approximately 90 percent of Kentucky Fried Chickenﾒs (KFC) 41 supervisors in New Providence taking a vote to strike on Wednesday.
That decision was taken after Restaurant Bahamas Limited, which owns the restaurants, decided to hold back on $1,000 due to each employee several weeks ago, claimed Obie Ferguson, the labour leader whose union represents the KFC workers.
He also claimed that management is demanding that if certain provisions are not incorporated into a four-year agreement signed back in January 27, 2004 the workers would not get the money.
As Mr. Ferguson tells it, the company is pushing that the clause that speaks to workers being suspended with pay be deleted.
But according to the labour leader, such provisions were not only signed and agreed to in the 2004 industrial contract, but also as far back as the 1998 agreement.
“We cannot allow the interest of workers to be trampled over. Those terms and conditions have been agreed to,” Mr. Ferguson charged.
“We will do what we have to do. We have filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labour and the Director of Labour and have not received any response.”
KFC supervisors met with company executives on Thursday to discuss concerns.
But according to one of the assistant managers who attended the meeting, the employers claim that that the union knew of the companyﾒs request, but simply did not relay the information to its members.
The assistant manager however admitted that there are some things in the contract that workers do not agree with.
“We have given management 30 days to make a decision. Thereafter, everything will be resolved by then,” the assistant manager said.
“But as it stands, we are not on go-slow or reduced labour. We are doing our full duties, satisfying our customers. We will continue to give good service.”
In response, Restaurants (Bahamas) Ltd. said in a statement that the dispute centres around the registration of the industrial agreement, which was executed on January 27, 2004.
The agreement was presented to the Industrial Tribunal for registration in early February 2004, but to date the agreement has not been registered, the company said.
It added that the issues in dispute were filed at the Department of Labour on April 19, 2006 by the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association (Mr. Fergusonﾒs union).
Restaurants (Bahamas) said, “However, the BHMA failed to attend conciliation of the dispute they filed.”
According to Mr. Sastre, the management attended conciliation meetings at the labour department on all occasions when summoned to deal with this dispute.
The statement also said that the Tribunal in its first letter of April 23, 2004 addressed to the parties made several observations/comments and recommendations to the parties.
Restaurants (Bahamas) Ltd. accepted them then and accepts them now, and agrees that these recommendations from the Tribunal are reasonable, it added.
“We accepted the recommendations then and confirm our acceptance once again,” Mr. Sastre said.
“It is the union [that] indicated a difference with the suggestions of the Tribunal.”
Consultant Michael C. Reckley added that the company confirmed with the Department of Labour its willingness to accept the Tribunalﾒs recommendations without any amendments.
Currently, according to Restaurants (Bahamas) Ltd., the suggestions of the Tribunal are being investigated by the labour department, taking into account concerns of the union.
“Restaurants (Bahamas) Ltd. believes that the unionﾒs failure to attend conciliation meetings and to accept the reasonable observations and comments of the Tribunal have contributed to this present situation,” the companyﾒs statement said.
“Despite the comments made by Mr. Obie Ferguson of the BHMA, Restaurants (Bahamas) Ltd. (KFC) is ready, willing and able to attend the Department of Labour to resolve these issues by embracing the suggestion of the Tribunal to ensure our managers receive the benefits agreed.”
Mr. Sastre added, “Restaurants (Bahamas) Ltd. is not holding back or refusing to pay any benefits. The agreement must first be registered by the Industrial Tribunal before any negotiated benefits are paid.”
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
