In a final blow to the economy of Grand Bahama, owners of the Royal Oasis Resort have fired the remaining 135 workers who had been kept on for more than a year to maintain the property, which was shut down following Hurricane Frances in September 2004.
The Bahama Journal has confirmed that the firings came after power was shut off to the property late last week.
Ever since the property shut down, the workers who remained employed have reportedly been carrying out maintenance work to prevent the buildings from deteriorating.
They were being paid collectively more than $60,000 a month, the Journal has learnt. The Lehman Brothers group, financier of the Driftwood group of companies – owners of the resort – has reportedly been paying the salaries.
But the company made the decision late last week to get rid of all remaining staff.
In a brief statement on Monday, resort officials confirmed the terminations.
“This move serves as further indication of our financial challenges over the past few years, the effects of hurricanes Frances and Jeanne and the recent disconnection of our power supply,” the statement sent by resort executive, Donald Archer, said.
“We are most sensitive to the impact that these layoffs will have on the said employees and our economy generally.”
But the statement did not say whether the workers would receive severance payments.
Last year, hundreds of workers lost their jobs after the resort closed.
The government later announced that it would pay out more than $6 million to the displaced workers and go after the owners of the resort to get the money back. It was a move that drew some criticism in and out of parliament, with Independent MP Tennyson Wells calling the plan “illegal”.
In May, Minister of Labour Vincent Peet announced that the government had paid out $5 million of the promised severance pay.
He also announced at the time that officials at his ministry and the Treasury Department had determined that $6.12 million was the total sum owed to 900 workers.
All workers whose total payout package amounted to $10,000 or less were paid in full.
The approval for the release of the remaining $1.12 million must come from parliament.
Gaming Union President Dennis Britton said on Monday that workers are anxiously awaiting parliamentary approval for the remaining funds to be paid out when the House of Assembly reconvenes early next month.
He said employees are still asking him how soon they would get the remaining funds.
“It’s still rough and hard on everyone,” said Mr. Britton, adding that many of the terminated workers had left the island in search of work.
He also informed that some of the supervisors have also sued the owners of the resort, seeking additional severance payments because the payments they received from the government were paid to them as line staff and not supervisors.
Mr. Britton – who has sought temporary employment in another field – said his union is dormant, but continues to monitor the situation.
He also said that he had not yet been informed of the latest firings.
Lloyd Cooper, second vice president of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union, said the union will “go all out” to defend the workers.
He said many of them had been employed at the property for decades.
Mr. Cooper said that the owners must follow the law as it relates to severance pay.
“The other thing that is really so vexing is that these workers had money deducted from their salary for medical insurance, just to find out that there was not a dime paid on their behalf, which is a criminal act,” he charged.
“I am saying that the government will have to step in with speed and try to see whatever [it] can do. But one thing [it] must do is get rid of Driftwood and its associates. We are Bahamians; we cannot and will not take [anymore].”
Mr. Cooper said the union would take legal action against the owners of the resort on the workers’ behalf.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Perry Christie said that the government was pushing hard to get the property sold and would even be willing to become a partner in the deal if negotiations with a private partner were not soon concluded.
During the payout announcement back in May, Minister Peet said that the gesture demonstrated prudence on behalf of the government to get through this season while seeking to attract the kind of sustainable investment for the Royal Oasis Resort that would develop the property into the premier property of Grand Bahama.
It remains unclear at this point whether the government would pay severance to the newly terminated 135 workers of the Royal Oasis Resort.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
