By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Lucayan line staff have received their voluntary separation packages, inclusive of severance, gratuity, and back pay, according to its representative union.

Michelle Dorsette, president of the Commonwealth Union of Hotel Services and Allied Workers (CUHSAW), confirmed all 164 workers who applied for packages were accepted.

She did not disclose the total sum of the payout.

Casual workers employed in the Banquets Department for more than six years were also included in the payouts, she added, noting those workers have received severance pay despite not having permanent status.

“We give God thanks for seeing us through this entire ordeal, because without Him this day would not have come,” said Ms Dorsette in a union press statement.

“It has been a long and hard fought battle but we are grateful that the government intervened and acted in the best interest of the workers.”

She said the majority of her members were happy with their payments, adding no official complaints have been filed.

Meanwhile, Obie Ferguson, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) president and lead negotiator for the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association (BHMA), told Tribune Business his members are “optimistic” that their voluntary separation packages will be finalised shortly.

He said the total value of the payout sought by around 90 BHMA members was $4.1m, close to their last offer to Grand Lucayan’s board, which had refused to go above $3.5m.