Workers have walked away from Atlantis’ third phase construction site in protest at what they describe as “inhumane” and racist treatment at the hands of their Bakers Construction bosses.
The men gathered together yesterday in their hard-hats outside the construction site, laid out accusations that they have been the victims of “bias” within the company and the government.
“This is about the inhumane treatment of these workers, These workers have be been here working for years and it’s hard to get a raise,” said Patrick Hanna. a spokesperson for the men.
However, the company has denied some of their claims, saving any resentment on the men’s part stems primarily from a misunderstanding. Within Bakers Construction, the men claim that bias has manifested itself in pay discrepancies between themselves and “expat” workers. According to the men, they are paid on average between $8-$10 an hour, or at most $13. On the other hand, they claim “expats” have been able to command as much as $25 to an hour for the same work.
“We have some people, South African, Canadian, American, all over the States coming here and they laugh in our face and say, ‘We’re in your country and we’re making $20, how much are you making? Oh, $10’. Tell me what’s wrong with that picture,” said Hanna.
Foreign workers have confirmed this discrepancy, Hanna claimed, and that many of them are working without permits.
Within the government, claim the men, the favouring of the interests of companies involved in work in the resort has allowed such discrepancies to continue and, furthermore, for work permits to go unchecked. “Nobody’s checking for it,” he said.
“Immigration? All they’re doing is harassing the Haitians. (Foreign workers) come over here and they laugh and say our government ain’t nothing, everybody’s got their hand under the table – that’s the biggest problem in our country – everybody’s got their hand under the table.”
Though bringing in foreigners and paying them more for similar work would appear to make poor business sense, some of the men claim the “bias” is fuelled by racism. “They give these people all the contracts, they don’t employ one Bahamian – or they’ll probably hire one or two of them to say ‘Hey, we put those people there’. as a token gesture,” said Hanna.
“This is sickening me, what’s happening in this country – whether you’re FNM or PLP, stop putting your hand under the table,” he said.
Baker’s response is that any discrepancies between workers’ salaries are only indicative of differences in responsibilities and skills – not any anti-Bahamian bias.
“When an expat comes here, normally he’s not a worker. he’s a supervisor – and if you put two supervisors together they make identical money.” said Henry Bethel, a manager at Bakers.
Mr Bethel denied there was a tendency to choose a majority of foreign labour over local labour, pointing out that it would not be a sensible practice for the company, due to the “huge expense” of housing and travel, and the $5,000 work permit that must be provided for each worker – something that Mr Bethel denied any of Baker’s workers do without.
Mr Bethel pointed out that Bakers had in the past used Bahamian labour abroad – “because they know what we do and how we do it” and may have more of the requisite skills. In these cases, Bahamians would also be paid more than locals and, consequently, on occasion, be similarly resented. Many of the protesting men are “new” and may not he aware of this, said Mr Bethel.
The issue is being dealt with through the Labour Department. Yesterday, after making their statements, the men met and negotiated with the human resources manager at the company, said Mr Bethel.
By ALISON LOWE, The Tribune
