By DANA SMITH dsmith@tribunemedia.net UNION officials claim Sandals Royal Bahamian Resorts forced its employees to sign a petition stating they do not want union representation and threatened them with termination if they refused to sign. Lynden Taylor, Bahamas Hotel, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (BHMAWU) president, said the resort "violated" their employees' rights. He further alleged Labour Minister, Senator Dion Foulkes, is in league with Sandals, claiming he knew about the alleged forced petition and did nothing. Sandals has vehemently denied the claims, calling them "untrue" and "duplicitous". At a protest outside the West Bay Street resort, yesterday, Mr Taylor said: "On Friday, Sandals management called a general meeting, a mandatory meeting - that all workers show up to this meeting, but this meeting was designed to have the workers sign a petition that they don't wish to have a union to represent them. That they would like the general manager to handle all their questions and concerns. "Now over half of the staff, almost all, walked out of the meeting. But they're walking around to different departments, and they are actually forcing you, impressing upon you to sign these documents. Now, they have actually threatened a few persons by telling them that if you don't sign, we will fire you." He claimed Mr Foulkes knew of the forced petition since the day it started, as did the Director of Labour, Harcourt Brown. "I guess the minister of labour is a part of this exercise - that's how it looks to me because I'm sure he's aware of it," Mr Taylor said. "Nothing was said in regards to this, he got a call from (a) lawyer on Friday, so he knows what's taking place. The director had a call as well, so they know what's taking place." He continued: "Now the minister knows about this... and the director knows about this. Yet, it still continued Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night. Now you tell me, the ministry knows about this and doesn't take action to stop this? This is ridiculous. They're in on it." Yesterday afternoon, Sandals' general manager, Patrick Drake, released a statement in response to the union's claims. "The management of Sandals Royal Bahamian unreservedly rejects any claims that the hotel is engaged in union busting or any acts of intimidation against our employees," he said. "The charges made by the BHMAWU are completely false but are consistent with the duplicity that the union has displayed in its tactics aimed at riding rough-shod over the management and employees of the hotel." Mr Drake said Sandals "fully respects and upholds all the laws" of the Bahamas, including the right for workers to be represented by a body of their choice. The resort also "recognises the right of workers to sign a petition to the Minister of Labour requesting revocation of union representation. "Accordingly, a significant portion of our employees have exercised their lawful right and have signed a petition to the Minister. This is their right, although the BHMAWU has failed to acknowledge this," Mr Drake said. He noted 70 per cent of current employees were not employed when the vote for unionisation involving BHMAWU was taken in 2009, and any attempt to "settle the question of union representation" must allow the present workers "an opportunity to indicate whether they desire to be part of this union." "Discussions that have taken place between the management and team members have merely sought to ensure that employees get the opportunity to express their will." Mr Drake continued: "In its quest to bulldoze its way over the management and staff of the hotel, the BHMAWU has sought to malign the management and paint an untrue picture of disgruntlement and unrest at the resort. Nothing could be further from the truth, as morale, unity and teamwork at the resort has never been better. "We are not surprised at these developments, however, because they follow the pattern of careless and false utterances and blatant subterfuge which has characterized the modus operandi of the union." Both BHMAWU and Sandals have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow with Mr Foulkes. Mr Taylor believes Sandals will use this meeting to present the petition. When reached for comment, Mr Foulkes confirmed the meeting and stated the alleged forced petition is under investigation, but would not offer anything more. "I'm having a meeting with both Management and Union on Wednesday," he said. "We are conducting an investigation with respect to the new allegations of union busting."