Classical union busting. Sandals will now say that the union doesn't hold majority sway. Another vote will be held and the employees will be reluctant to vote for collective bargaining.

Article headline for redundancies above: "Sandals Staff Made Redundant Will Not Be Given Preference For Re-Hiring".

Voter mandate for next general election and beyond: "Corrupt MPs Made Seatless Will Not Be Given Preference For Re-Election in the Future".

Now this is a headline I can support

There's an old story my granny used to tell me about the dog and the bone, when he saw his reflection in the water.

“First preference will be given to employees most qualified for the job,” one source said. “The length of time a person worked there won’t be as relevant. It’s not a matter of seniority. It’s a matter of productivity.”

Sounds like the resort is exercising its apparently legal right to eliminate non-productive employees in favour of efficient employees when it reopens.

One does wonder why the relevant Government officials were not more up to speed on this matter and played no part in guiding the employees on how to act in their best interest. (Unless, of course, they were fully up to speed...............)

They weren't up to date with Bahamar so judge Sandals. Its simple- business have no respect for the current government- ZERO!

A source close to Sandals also denied yesterday that the government was caught off guard by its intention to make hundreds of people redundant, as Labour Minister Shane Gibson had suggested.

#The source said officials of the resort met with Prime Minister Perry Christie several times recently and informed him of the decision.

#In at least one of these meetings, Mr Gibson was present, the source said.

Fast track construction workers? Wonder who they are and if they can be hired for Baha Mar?

Gotta hand it to Sandals. By not rehiring old employees, they can put anti-union policies that are legal only if is in place before any organising activity takes place. And all new hires come under that policy. You can bet that the few remaining workers have never expressed organising tendencies. It was never a union shop. And with an entirely new work crew, it never will be. And if Obie or TUC tries to unionise again, there will more renovations.

Interestingly enough, the closure won't affect Sandals at all. Over 80% of the bookings are done online, and they are shown the Sandals brand with 20 other Sandals locations that are glitzier than Nassau. You can re-direct Nassau customers to better Sandals resorts using the website booking service by offering them a discount.

Getting rid of all of the workers helps with the court case as well. Who is going to testify for Obie and TUC if you are hoping to get your job back? Brilliant.

Unions are a curse upon the economy and workers of the Bahamas. Union leaders (like Shame Gibson used to be -- and before that, he was Radio Shack clerk), make a good living off the labour of hardworking Bahamians who pay for a lifestyle for union bosses that they themselves can't afford.

All these employees need to consult with any attorney. I don't think redundancy applies in these circumstances. The company isn't ceasing to carry on business and their positions aren't being eliminated.

If there is no signed union agreement, and there wasn't, there is nothing to prevent a company from declaring all workers redundant every week.

You too need to go and ready the labour law. . .IN THE ABSCENCE OF AND UNION AGREEMENT, THE LABOUR LAW IS AUTHOMATICALLY ENFORCED. . .WHICH HAS MORE TEETH IN IT THAN THE UNION AGREEMENTS! THAT IS THE REASON THAT IS SAID EARLIER THAT THE HOTEL'S MOVE WAS SO DUMB BECAUSE IT DID NOT HAVE AN EXISTING AGREEMENT. . .THEREFORE MUST COMPLY WITH THE CURRENT LABOUR ACT. . .WHICH WILL "JOOK" THEM ALL UP!

THE LABOUR LAW HAS A WHOLE SECTION WHAT IS REDUNDANCY. . .HOW THEY ARE DONE, HOW MUCH PAYMENT MUST BE GIVEN IN REDUNDANCIES, HOW NOBODY CAN BE RE-HIRED IN THE REDUNDANT POSITION AND IF THE REDUNDANT POSITION IS EVER RE-OPENED, THE PERSON WHO WAS LET GO MUST GET FIRST SHOT AT THE NEWLY RE-OPENED REDUNDANT POSITION ETC.!

IN CASE YOU DON'T KNOW, IN LABOUR LAW A REDUNDANCY IS THE ELIMINATION OF A WORK POSITION THAT THE COMPANY HAS NO FURTHER USE FOR. . .AND THE SAME LAW PROHIBITS THE COMPANY FROM "BRING BACK" THE REDUNDANT POSITION AFTER THEY DONE GET RID OF A PERSON WHO THEY WANT DUMP AND CAN'T DUMP! I would suggests that persons who are cheer leading for Sandals should go read the labour act and see how deep in poopoo Sandals gone. . .ABSOLUTE DISREGARD FOR OUR LABOUR LAW!!

Phew. . .one person on this site who knows a thing about the labour law of the Bahamas! This case will sink Sandals. . .they will pay out millions for court cost and compensations for wrongly fired workers!!

Their HR professional "mussie" got their training from down in "McCoy yard" down there on Market St and Palm Tree Ave. . .with McCoy brother Jane as the teacher! If this was a country such as USA, CA or even Jamaica that hotel will be "slapped" up side their heads and buried forever in court and be fined such a sum that it will never recover!

Some of those severence packages are more that a civil servant gets as his / her gratuity after 30 to 40 years.

Unions don't work in the United States either. The idea sounds great, but first off it runs the prices up. The union actually take the word team out of a work crew. It makes employees lazy, because they feel protected. This doesn't really work in the hospitality business. When everyone is relying on guests and return guests for the business to prosper. People won't come back if they think the property is run down, dirty, poor quality, rudeness or unsafe. Positive feedback from quests will make everyone more money.

Yall think that the hotel was brilliant in their "underhanded" move. . .just wait until they try to refill those redundant places. . .THE LABOUR LAW PROHIBITS MAKING JOBS REDUNDANT TO "RID" OF UNWANTED UNION-AFFLIATED WORKERS. . .THE SAME POSITIONS **CANNOT** BE FILLED AT A LATER DATE. . .OR THE SAME WORKER HAS FIRST PREFERANCE TO THAT RE-ESTABLISHED POSITION! YALL NEED TO GO READ THE LABOUR ACT. . .REDUNDANT MEANS THAT THE POSITION IS "CUT OUT" AND NO LONGER NEEDED. . .SO THE COMPANY ELIMINATED THE POSITION! IF THAT HOTEL RE-HIRES ANYBODY FOR POSITIONS MADE REDUNDANT IT WILL FIND ITSELF IN COURT. . .THE LABOUR LAW WILL BURY THEM DEEP DEEP DEEP. . .ANY PERSON WITH HR TRAINING WILL TELL THEM THAT. . .THIS WILL NOT WORK! NOW YALL SEE WHY THE HOTEL WANTS THE REDUNDANT WORKERS TO "SIGN" THEM NO-FAULT LETTERS. EACH UNION-BUSTED POSITION WILL NOT BE FILLED AFTER THEY RE-OPEN. . .IF THE HOTEL DOES. . .THEY WILL GET JOOKED SO HARD THEY MAR WILL FEEL IT WHEREVER SHE IS!!!!

If Sandals did something wrong, why has not the minister of labour told the attorney general to bring a lawsuit? Evidently, the minister is trying to use smoke and mirrors to make himself look good and the company look bad. It is clear that the company did nothing illegal. If they did, they would have been arrested or a court case brought.

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While I am truly sympathetic with the persons who have lost jobs, we need to learn as was said earless form these unions and jack tar in west end. Until we get educated union leaders and not thug union leader, we will sadly continue this demise. I love my country and want the best for it. But sadly we are have people leading some organizations in our country who are clueless about leadership.