By LEDEDRA MARCHE
Senior FN Reporter
lededra@nasguard.com
Two years after government paid out $5 million of the $6.12 million owed in redundancy pay to 900 displaced Royal Oasis workers – eight months following the resort's closure – the former employees are agitating again for the rest of their money.
In some cases, several of them have yet to be paid a dime since the troubled Crowne Plaza Golf Resort and Casino at the Royal Oasis closed in September 2004, opting not to settle.
Some had refused the payout because they were unsatisfied with the amount purportedly owed and vowed to take their plight to the Department of Labour.
Now, they say it has been too long and after an off-again, on-again sale of the 427-acre property, they are speaking up for their rights.
The group met Thursday and formed an alliance because they say their are upset with government and with the former operators.
"It's very sad that after so many years just waiting for the parities, whether its the hotel or whether its the government, to come forth and say to the people 'this is what we plan to do for the Royal Oasis workers," Ceva Seymour, one of the spokespersons for the group, told The Freeport News.
"But it appears as if they don't care because nobody has come forward. It seems as if they're trying to more or less not be bothered with this issue. But the Royal Oasis staff are hurting."
Many of them, she said, disclosed horror stories of having lost their homes and others their cars and some spoke of how they have had to relocate to make ends meet.
"Some of them are upset," she said," over the fact that after having worked for 30 years and most of them many years at the resort, management to come and say to them 'this is it, we don't have anything to give you.' there is no way in this country that this should happen.
"It is not fair so basically what we did was got together as a group and we plan to deal directly with the Prime Minister's Office with this matter."
The resort property includes a casino, 965 rooms between the towers and the country club, 98 timeshare units and two golf courses.
Resort operator Driftwood Freeport Limited had revealed after two back-to-back September storms in 2004 that the property had suffered heavy losses and had to close its doors, forcing the lay off of some 1,300 employees.
The closure of the second largest resort on the island had a direct affect on the unemployment rate, the economy and the tourism market in Grand Bahama.
Months later, up to 300 displaced Royal Oasis workers and unionists were on the picket line at the front of the resort property for weeks.
On several occasions, the group marched to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Grand Bahama Port Authority Building.
Soon, more than 70 store owners, hair braiders and straw venders joined in solidarity.
Following the pay-out in May 2005, the then Minister of Labour Vincent Peet revealed that under the law, government could only pay out the sum which the em-ployer admits are due from their employment record.
The remaining $1.12 million needed Parliament approval which, was promised in "short order, and has yet to be paid.
Some 650 workers whose total payout package amounted to under $11,000 or less were paid in full and those entitled to more than $11,000 received 50 percent.
Seymour revealed that they have foot soldiers in the background gathering documented information.
"So we are dealing now with staff who got a portion of their monies and the staff who had not gotten any monies at all," she said, adding that the pay- out was documented with a deed which each of them received.
The date of the second payment, she noted, was left vacant at the time by government because they were unaware of exactly when that was going to be.
"But if you give someone a deed and sell a hotel you make arrangements to sell a hotel and not include monies that you have outstanding to people. The employees are really upset," she said.
"We want to be in the background working along with the Prime Minister's Office locally and perhaps all of our information would get to Nassau or we may have to go directly into Nassau."
But with the announcement back in April that Harcourt Development Company had won the bid, which essentially meant it had acquired the resort, the group fears they have been overlooked.
Harcourt, which was said to be in discussion with operators for a hotel, condo/hotel, timeshare, casino, convention/meeting facilities, spar, fitness centre, food and beverage, retail, recreation, and other amenities.
Foxwoods Development Company was reportedly in negotiations with the Harcourt Development group.
However, the Harcourt Group has also revealed that it will not be responsible for any past debts accrued by the prior owners or other companies previously involved with the Royal Oasis.
Faced with the realization that once the sale is final the former workers will not get paid, one displaced employee vowed she would lay down in front of the driveway to obstruct any vehicles.
"Something like this brings out the ugliness in people," said Seymour.
Displaced workers are insisting government pass a law in the immediate future to safeguard workers from delinquent employers and foreign investors in the future.
"The Bahamas government now needs for future employees who are out there to put something in place where people wouldn't have to go through this anymore," Seymour said.
"Something has to be done; The Bahamas government has to stipulate with foreign investors coming in you just can't come in and take over something and at the end of the day close your door and bam you're gone."
According to Seymour, her counterparts at the Miami office mounted a class suit and have already been paid.
"We need to protect the rights of the Bahamian workers," she declared.
The next step is to get each of the deeds that were dispersed to the employees on May 24, 2005 she said and move from there.
"They're coming to me by the second. Every minute someone is walking in with one," she said.
DOCUMENTED PROOF – Ceva Seymour, one of the spokespersons for the group of former Royal Oasis workers agitating for the rest of their monies, is pictured holding a copy of the deed presented to them by the Government in 2005 stating that they would receive what was due them. |
