By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Hotel Catering & Allied Workers Union is expected to meet with the government and Meliá Nassau Beach Resort officials tomorrow over a dispute involving the 15 per cent gratuity enjoyed by hotel employees.

The meeting is scheduled for 11am at the Department of Labour, according to Darren Woods, BHCAWU secretary general.

He said despite the planned meeting, union members still remained on “amber alert.”

This comes amid controversy that was sparked last week from a decision by the hotel to remove the gratuity from employees’ salaries. However, that decision was reversed a short time later.

It drew contention on Thursday as BHCAWU officials held a press conference outside the hotel and demanded that Bah Mar officials rescind the issuance of letters to staff stating they would no longer receive their tips.

At the time Mr Woods told The Tribune that employees were issued the letters on Wednesday night.

Last week Mr Woods said the union had been in negotiations with the Meliá over the gratuity issue on behalf of the 300 hotel workers it represents at the property.

“They sent a letter saying that they were dropping the 15 per cent gratuity,” he added.

“We were in discussions on that issue. We told them that we had to come up with a flat rate because they wanted us to agree with a percentage rate. We were in discussions up to last week trying to come up with a rate.

“They gave us some information, we were still digesting that, and then Wednesday night they sent a letter saying that because we didn’t agree to the all-inclusive plan, they would cease issuing cheques as of Thursday, therefore ceasing the 15 per cent,” he said last week.

Mr Woods added: “We told them that they had to rescind the letters that they issued the employees. Eventually, they did. The Labour Department has now gotten involved and they are arranging a meeting for us to sit down and conclude this matter.”

Baha Mar has said it was forced to cease the normal 15 per cent gratuity payments at the Meliá Nassau Beach Resort, after 10 months of negotiations failed to reach an agreement with the union on a new arrangement.

Baha Mar executives said the hotel had been forced to take unilateral action, changing the gratuity rate and method for its calculation, to keep the hotel “economically viable and preserve jobs”.

In response to the dispute, Labour Minister Shane Gibson last week said he hoped for a solution to the matter in a few days.