During a meeting with the Memebers of Parliament that was held on January 20th 2011, an agreement was made after 3-4 hours for the issue with Pelican Resort and it’s owner.
MPs told Pelican Resort ‘new’ owner under no obligation to hire workers
PHILIPSBURG–Simpson Bay Resort Owner BV, the new owner of Pelican Resort Club, is under no obligation to hire the present workers of the resort and has "gone beyond" its responsibilities to offer employment to the workers, attorney Jairo Bloem told Members of Parliament (MPs) on Thursday.
The workers are currently employed indefinitely by Pelican Resort Club Management N.V., on which financier Quantum Investment Trust (QIT) had foreclosed for payment defaults, sending the property to the auction block in mid-December. QIT ended up buying the property, as it was the only bidder.
Bloem pointed out that by next week the company that employs the workers no longer would have a resort to run because QIT via its local company Simpson Bay Resort Owner BV would have taken over based on the auction.
If the employment issues are not resolved by the time the new owner takes possession of the property, the present workers "will no long be allowed to be part of the property." He added this was part of the "new reality" of the situation and constant demands for all workers to be taken over as is would only serve to push the company into further financial woes. A similar situation occurred in 2006 when the company was in bankruptcy.
Bloem said there was a feeling of "social responsibility" to the workers and in lieu of the severance pay (Cessantia) that would come when the present owner ceased operations, the new owner had offered the workers "bridge loans." The terms of these loans have not been worked out. Workers who have been with a company for 10 years or more are entitled by law to specific payments. Such payments also can be outlined in a collective labour agreement (CLA).
Bloem and Royal Resorts Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Corso, representing the new resort owner, were called to Parliament together with Workers Institute for Organised Labour (WIFOL) President Theophilus Thompson and Labour Mediator Kenneth Lopes to explain what exactly was going on with the workers and to what benefits they were entitled.
A number of Pelican workers were present for the meeting as was the resort’s Managing Director Jules James. He was present in his capacity as a MP and did not speak during the session.
Opposition National Alliance (NA) requested the Central Committee meeting and its MPs in general voiced strong concerns about the need to keep the workers employed and to ensure that their benefits accumulated over the years were not lost.
Bloem had first informed Parliament that the new owner and its new management company Simpson Bay Management Company BV had outlined issues at Pelican to the Council of Ministers and had directed the Ministers there for further information.
He also noted in his letter that QIT should have been invited to the meeting. In the end, Bloem and Corso attended the meeting and answered the questions posed by MPs. Their session was followed by the one with WIFOL and Lopes.
Bloem said before outlining the history of the resort that led to auction that his clients’ objection to coming to the meeting at first had to do with not wanting the situation to play out in a "political setting" where issues could be portrayed incorrectly.
He said a change of board of the soon-to-be-former owner company had led to a default on payments for some four months while attempts were made to renegotiate terms with the financier. This led to the auction, which the timeshare owners had tried to stop in two court cases, but had lost each time. The timeshare owners make up the Pelican Resort Club Management N.V. and had contracted management of the resort to Royal Resorts.
Similarly, Royal Resort will be responsible for the continued management of the resort and currently has been assigned by QIT to put everything in order for its takeover in the coming days.
Bloem said that when the auction details were finalised and the new owner took over the resort, it would not have any staff, as the workers were employed by another company. To prevent this from happening, the negotiations were started with the union and the latest in a series of employment agreements was brokered on Wednesday night that still has to be ratified by the union (see related story).
Corso explained that the financier has been lenient in the past with Pelican’s non-payment, but in the last years had become "less tolerant." He cautioned against the plight of the workers being used as a "political tool" and expressed willingness to dialogue.
He added that it must be understood that the resort had two managing directors: one from the owner and another from the management company (Royal Resort), the latter taking instruction from the owner’s managing director. Often recommendations given by the management company were not adhered to.
MP William Marlin (NA), among other questions, asked whether Article 34 of the CLA for the resort was applicable, as that stipulated that successors of the present resort owner would have to honour the CLA. Bloem said this was not applicable because, under the auction, the new owner could not be termed a successor.
Marlin feared the Pelican issue would lead to another Mullet Bay Resort scenario wherein workers who have invested many years in the resort become unemployed and are unable to find new jobs because of their age. He, like other NA parliamentarians, said the workers were confused as to for whom they were working.
Picking up on that point, MP Louie Laveist (NA) said the same people who represented the present owners were representing the new owner, thus contributing to the confusion.
Thompson said the article was in place to "protect the workers," but a new CLA would have had to be negotiated. Questioned why negotiate when the clause was applicable, Thompson said the new owner had asked for labour mediation.
MP Frans Richardson (NA) said investors had to respect the island and its people. He also said timeshare owners needed more protection, because the impression in the wider community was that these people are being cheated.
MP Leroy de Weever (DP) said workers must be protected every day of the year and chided fellow MPs for only now becoming involved in the Pelican matter and fighting for the workers.
The chief concern of MPs Romain Laville (UP), Roy Marlin (DP) and Dr. Lloyd Richardson (NA) was job security for the workers.
Independent MP Patrick Illidge urged workers to take all problem and issues to their union and always try to get the facts straight.
NEWS ARTICLE FROM WWW.THEDAILYHERALD.COM