By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Trade union and Sandals representatives are expected to meet with Prime Minister Perry Christie on Friday in a bid to resolve ongoing disputes, with one union leader describing it as “‘very important day”.

Obie Ferguson, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) president, said: “We meet with the Prime Minister and Sandals on Friday. Friday is going to be a very important day for this whole exercise. We want to see a resolution to this matter.”

Mr Ferguson suggested that the meeting has been arranged on the Prime Minister’s instruction, but he could not confirm if Sandals would be at the negotiating table come Friday.

“I truly hope so,” said Mr Ferguson. “I know that the TUC and the National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU) will be there, that’s for sure.”

Union executives, along with members of the religious community, met with Mr Christie last Friday regarding grievances over the termination of Sandals Royal Bahamian’s 600 staff and related issues.   

The TUC and the NCTU had previously warned they were prepared to “shut the country down” with a repeat of the 1958 General Strike unless the Prime Minister met with them within 48 hours to resolve the Sandals situation, which he has now done.

Tribune Business understands, however, that the threat could still stand if no resolution is imminent following Friday’s meeting, with the unions demanding that all 600 terminated Sandals Royal Bahamian staff be rehired.

The TUC and its Bahamas Hotel, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (BHMAWU) affiliate previously blasted Sandals Royal Bahamian for its abrupt closure earlier this month, arguing that it was a ‘union busting’ move.

The resort chain, though, has repeatedly argued that the closure, which resulted in 600 employees being made redundant, was essential for much-needed $4 million repairs to take place at the Cable Beach property.

The BHMAWU has since 2009 been seeking to negotiate an industrial agreement for workers at Sandals Royal Bahamian, and has grown increasingly frustrated at its failure to do so, despite having been recognised as the bargaining agent.

Sandals Royal Bahamian and its attorneys, Lennox Paton, have been challenging the “very basis” for the Bahamas Hotel, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union’s (BHMAWU) existence on technical grounds. The resort previously filed a Judicial Review seeking a court order that would force the Registrar of Trade Union’s to cancel the union’s registration.