Labour Ministry urged to intervene amid redundancies at Bahia Principe hotels

 

The Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) is calling for the urgent intervention of the Ministry of Labour, following the announcement of a redundancy exercise at the Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica and Bahia Principe Luxury Runaway Bay hotels.

 

The management of the hotel announced the indefinite closure of the properties on the heels of the passage of Hurricane Melissa. 

 

The union says it had been in meetings with the hotel's management after being advised of the proposed one-year closure for refurbishing.

 

The BITU says it's strongly rejected and he moved toward mass redundancy and pressed the company to explore all available options to avoid job loss, consistent with the labour relations code.

 

President General of the BITU, Senator Kavan Gayle, says the workers are now in limbo about their future.

 

"We have been in dialogue with the management from November regarding its intention to close the Grand part of the hotel with the intention of refurbishing. They would have indicated their intention to make the positions of the unionised staff redundant. We would have rejected it and would have recommended to continue discussions to the present with the intention of preserving and securing employment of the workers. They would have met with us on Thursday of last week and indicated to us their intention now to close both hotels, post Hurricane Melissa," Mr. Gayle disclosed. 

 

He said while the union awaits an urgent response from the Ministry of Labour, it will continue to advocate for the protection of its members' jobs and welfare.