Broke and broken-hearted

Long-standing employees of the award-winning Accra Beach Hotel on the South Coast say they’ve gotten nothing but disrespect in return for years of dedication to their former employer and the country’s tourism industry.

On Thursday, approximately 30 of them joined a growing number of disgruntled hotel workers demanding that the Government and other relevant agencies take a deeper look at the inner workings of the glorified sector.

During a three-hour protest outside the Rockley, Christ Church property, workers accused their former bosses of attempting to deprive them of vacation pay, while simply refusing to inform them about how and when their severance would be forthcoming.

In the meantime, they revealed that some workers have already been evicted from homes and are relying on charitable organisations for food, after serving at the hotel, in some cases, for more than 20 years.

“The only thing that we are hearing from the management in the hotel when they send letters is about bringing back our uniforms and name badges and coming to clear out our lockers. Why is it that they can’t send us those types of letters with clarity on when we will get the remainder of our vacation pay and who is going to pay us our severance – whether they will pass us on to the [National Insurance Scheme] NIS or whatever?” asked former room attendant and shift leader Natasha Burgin.

“We just want some clarity on both, and if they are not willing to cooperate and give us the rest of our vacation money, we would like the Government to step in,” she added.

Since the hotel closed its doors on March 29th, workers were assured of the hotel’s eventual re-opening. However, with unemployment cheques dwindling, months of silence from Accra, and 22 weeks of unemployment swiftly approaching, approximately 90 per cent of workers grudgingly filed for severance.

The ex-staffers told Barbados TODAY that, like many other hotel workers, they were willing to forfeit their severance and accept 80 per cent of their monthly salaries to remain employed under the Barbados Employment and Sustainable Transformation (BEST) programme. But, in mid-September when the hotel re-opened, management opted not to engage any of the employees who had previously filed for severance and instead re-engaged only a handful of relatively new employees. Reservations agent Janice Harewood, who was very emotional about the situation, described heartbreaking situations that have befallen the longstanding employees who she described as victims of “forced” severance. 

“As an employee, you were told for years to give service and give service and give service and you get nothing in return. I worked 14 hours a day… We didn’t take lunch hours or anything because we give the best of service,” the 58-year-old lamented.

“Now we have employees who have been evicted and who are going to food banks in Barbados and going to get food hampers. Why, after 20-something years do you have to do that because your employer is not communicating with you? Where is the humanity?

“No one wanted to be in the situation where we had to file for severance…We expected that as occupancy increases, you were going to call us back on a gradual process. But then we were told that you were opening and instead you re-open with junior employees who have been there for one year. Who runs a place like that?

“Employers in Barbados and the Government need to look at this scenario. This industry is not doing what it is supposed to be doing,” Harewood declared.

Inside, an employee at the front desk told Barbados TODAY that General Manager Suresh Monicko was on sick leave, and that Financial Controller Frank Small who was acting in his place had “no comment”. 

Meanwhile, Ms. Burgin revealed that after nine years at Accra, life has suddenly become extremely difficult for her and her four children as she attempts to “juggle” monthly bills to keep her children online for school. 

“I have been disrespected from a place where I came in every day, did my utmost best and worked extremely hard. There was a time when this hotel was under construction they asked me to come and clean up the construction rooms and I was down on my knees scraping the tiles and this is the kind of respect that I am getting in return. It is not fair,” said the disheartened former worker. 

The situation at Accra is strikingly similar to the plight of former workers at many other hotels including those at the Club Barbados Resort and Spa who protested broken promises regarding severance last week.

“The employers in the hotel industry are doing a lot of nonsense and they have been overlooked for years. For some reason, they are being overlooked, perhaps because of occupancy levels,” suggested Harewood.

“Barbados is boasting high occupancy levels, it’s a popular tourist destination, and that is fine. But what about the employee? What about the employee? What do you do for the employee?” she echoed.

(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)