By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

UNION leaders, KFC Management and Department of Labour representatives were locked in meetings yesterday after KFC made 35 of their employees redundant on Monday “without giving proper notice.”

 President of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union, Belinda Wilson said she is very disappointed that KFC decided “they were not going to pay attention to the rules,” but she said they are discussing their options with the Department of Labour.

“I met with the employees on Monday and I have been in conciliation talks with the Department of Labour and KFC today. We accept that sometimes businesses have to close, but there is a process that should be followed when it comes to redundancies. The law speaks to it and so does the industrial agreement,” she said.

“Employees have the right to ensure that their rights are not violated and they get what it due to them as the law provides. From what I understand employees were given envelopes and in the envelopes were letters and cheques but the cheques did not represent full payment and also they did not sign for anything. So right now we are in the process of getting everything sorted out. I do not want to say much more than that.”

 Employees at Kentucky’s Village Road location were made redundant on Monday, after the company announced the immediate closure of that store for “economical reasons.”

In a press release, the franchise holder of KFC in New Providence said the closure of its Village Road store is part of the company’s strategic plan to “efficiently manage population changes in the Nassau market, which has shifted over recent years”.

“We routinely assess all of our locations, both individually and as part of the entire store system, and conclude that closings are unfortunately necessary from time to time,” said Gabriel Sastre, VP & General Manager of Restaurants (Bahamas) Limited. “As a result of the company currently operating five KFC Nassau locations within less than two miles of each other, a position that is economically unsustainable, we made the strategic decision to close the Village Road store. This closing is consistent with our strategy to employ our resources in the most appropriate and beneficial locations, and we’re regularly assessing other potential sites to increase the availability and convenience of KFC in Nassau for our customers.”

Mr Sastre said making the decision to close the store was not easy, but the employees are welcome to apply for any positions that may become available.