The Government’s labour chief last night voiced optimism that elements of a private cruise island dispute could be resolved “within seven days” with all sides set to attend an “urgent” mediation meeting this week.

Howard Thompson, the Department of Labour director, in a statement to Tribune Business said his visit and investigation at Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) Great Stirrup Cay had revealed there are “two sides to the story” following complaints from staff - including members of the island’s former management - about alleged non-compliance with Bahamian labour laws, along with unfair treatment.

In particular, he hinted that questions had been raised by NCL over whether managerial staff are entitled to overtime pay or simply allowed to claim days back for extra time worked. All parties, including the recently-terminated foreign managers, have been asked to attend a virtual meeting with the Department of Labour on Tuesday or Wednesday this week in a bid to resolve the outstanding grievances.

Mr Thompson, who backed away from his call for “heads to roll at the highest level” on Great Stirrup Cay if last week’s termination of several senior managers was related to them filing trade disputes against NCL and the island management firm with the Department of Labour, said “95 percent of line staff” issues have been resolved and he is confident the remainder can be addressed within a week.

That leaves just the managerial workers, current and former, and the labour chief said he had been able to interact and speak privately with multiple Great Stirrup Cay staff, both Bahamian and foreign, senior and line staff, during his visit to the Berry Islands destination.

“Following the very serious and alarming complaints that the Department of Labour received from persons employed at Great Stirrup Cay, including reports of the firing of senior managers, I along with one of my Department’s investigators, Renaldo Rolle, travelled on very short notice to Great Stirrup Cay in the Berry Islands last Thursday to assess the situation and to look for credible information to support my previous public statement in which I rapidly called for ‘heads to roll at the highest level’ if those managers were in fact fired because they filed Trade Disputes with the Department of Labour,” Mr Thompson said.

“Whilst on Great Stirrup Cay, we were able to speak in private with a number of employees ranging from general workers, security officers, boat captains, heads of Great Stirrup Cay’s human resources units to, ultimately, the most senior executives on the Cay including Mark Kansley, Norwegian Cruise Line’s senior vice-president of hotel operations.

“As it relates to the affected managers, all of whom are non-Bahamians, that aired their complaints on national news, my preliminary view on that matter is that there appears to be two sides to the story and I suppose the ‘whole truth’ is somewhere in the middle,” Mr Thompson added.

“There also appears to be some historical issues dating back to the pandemic period and the legal question of  whether persons in  managerial positions are entitled to receive overtime pay or simply days back.” Tribune Business understands that NCL is challenging whether, under Bahamian labour law, managers who work extra hours and days are entitled to overtime pay or simply get days back for the time worked.

The cruise line is also thought to be contesting the amount of overtime that the managers claim to be owed, given that a portion of this sum relates to the COVID-19 period when Great Stirrup Cay was closed. And, when the island did eventually open, ship visits occurred once every three days, raising questions as to how persons could be working overtime given the reduced business levels.

As a result, NCL is challenging both the sums claimed and whether any overtime was incurred at all - especially since no one is working overtime at Great Stirrup Cay now even though the island is at its busiest since COVID-19.

As for the timing of last week’s firings, Tribune Business understands that there is evidence to show that NCL had planned this move a month in advance at least, and the fact it coincided with last week’s trade disputes filing and Mr Thompson’s visit was a coincidence. Employers are not informed about a trade dispute being filed against them until a week or week-and-a-half later.

“For the sake of not wanting to prejudice the great possibility of an amicable resolution, I will not expand on those statements,” Mr Thompson said, “but I will hasten to state that the issues and complaints of those foreign managers are resolveable and will be resolved in due course.

“The first step in that direction is that I have taken the liberty of convening an urgent mediation meeting for Tuesday or Wednesday coming, which will be conducted via Zoom or WebEx to accommodate those foreign affected managers who have returned to their home countries along with senior executives from Norwegian Cruise Line, whose head office is located in Miami, Florida.

“Additionally, I have asked legal counsel, Keenan Johnson, attached to the Ministry of Labour and the Department of Labour to assist me on the proposed virtual mediation meeting. I have also indicted to both sides if they so desire that I have no objections to their respective attorney or legal advisor joining in,” Mr Thompson added.

“As it related to the line staff, non-managerial employees, Bahamian and non-Bahamian, I am of the view that 95 percent of their issues have been resolved and I expect full 100 percent resolution within seven days. I have received the necessary assurances from NCL.” Tribune Business understands that the line staff issues relate mainly to outstanding overtime pay.