NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Atlantis says that it is focused on reopening safely and keeping its team members employed for years to come.
Scores of furloughed workers staged a protest on Wednesday demanding to be made redundant.
In a statement, the resort, which has been closed for six months now, said: “We stand by our loyal and dedicated colleagues and are committed to their long-term future at Atlantis.
“Throughout this period, we are supporting our furloughed colleagues as much as possible, including providing payments and ongoing, full health care benefits for eligible team members.
“Our focus is on safely reopening Atlantis and keeping our team members employed for years to come.”
Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) President Darrin Woods has said the union will not push for redundancies on behalf of furloughed Atlantis employees.
Woods told Eyewitness News: “We have a provision in our agreement that allows for persons to be made redundant.
That’s their right. We aren’t going to advance redundancies on behalf of people because we know that for hospitality workers, their salaries are so low, once they get that lump sum, then what?”
Reforms to the Employment Act in 2017 mandate that once workers have been sent home for a 13-week period or 90-day period, an employer has to either to recall them to work or terminate them with full compensation as required by law.
Woods noted that as a result of the emergency orders redundancy provisions requiring local businesses to pay full severance to furloughed workers has been suspended, until the end of November.
