By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

SOME 92 workers at the Harbourside Resort at Atlantis will enjoy an 11 percent pay rise spread over the five-year term of a newly-signed industrial agreement, it was revealed yesterday.

Darrin Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) president, said all workers will see the same increase due to the labour deal with the timeshare resort. Tipped workers will gain three percent in the first and third year, and 5 percent in the final year, while non-tipped staff will enjoy an eight percent increase in the first year and three percent in the fifth.

Although the last industrial agreement between the BHCAWU and Harbourside expired in 2011, some 13 years ago, employees have been able to retain all their benefits under the terms of the new agreement.

Mr Woods said: “These negotiations have been unorthodox like all the rest, but we are able to reach the point where we are able to sign and also offer them

some improved benefits and payment. They pretty much mirror the industry, where they will receive a lump sum payment. Once we sign in the next few days, they will receive those payments. Their increases will take effect once the agreement signs.

“For the tipped category, it’s 11 percent, with three percent in the first year, three percent in the third and five percent in the fifth. And for the non-tipped it’s an eight percent increase in the first year and three percent in the fifth year. And so, all of the benefits have been maintained.

“With this industrial agreement, we didn’t lose any benefits that they had. We were able to maintain everything. Moving forward, of course, with the improved payments, we say to our members again that we expect for the service level to go to another level.”

Mr Woods said negotiations were not “acrimonious” and provisions have been made to incorporate the industrial agreement into the Harbourside employees’ contracts of employment so they will not have to again endure such long intervals between agreements.

He added: “We didn’t have an acrimonious time going through it. Situations happen that cause us not to be able to conclude the agreement in time, and we’re passed that now. We made sure that mechanisms are in place for any time the contract expires to give us time to renegotiate.

“One of the things that is significant with all of the contracts that we would have signed recently is the fact that there was a provision for the agreements once they’re registered, to be incorporated into the employees’ individual contracts of employment. This is huge and significant, and that will mitigate the chance that anything like this will happen again for a long time.”

Mr Woods said negotiations will now begin for an industrial agreement for Poop Deck employees, while the BHCAWU will continue talks with the newly-reopened Club Med property in San Salvador and Orange Hill.

He added that the union is about 70 percent complete with its negotiations and is now about to begin the “‘money section” of the Club Med industrial agreement.

Mr Woods said: “We are just elated to be able to now, once we will assign this agreement, to begin focusing on improving our membership in terms of advancing and empowering them.

“Once we would have done this, we will then turn our attention to the Poop Deck, which is outstanding. We have the Orange Hill, which is about to expire, and we are presently in negotiations for the Club Med San Salvador, which just reopened and we are pretty much, I’d say, about 70 percent completed, getting ready to go into the money section of that agreement.

“We hope to have all of those agreements wrapped up in the shortest possible time with Orange Hill not expiring until April. So we already proactive as it relates to that, showing that we are prepared to start the negotiations early and also have them concluded at the end of the day.”