Dionne Rose and Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporters
Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Area One, Clifford Blake, addressing workers at the Fiesta hotel site in Point, Hanover, during a protest last week. Photo by Noel Thompson
Government is again being criticised for its failure to engage stakeholders in the current tourism expansion project. Trade unions have added their voice to a concern raised by environmentalists, parish councils and physical planners over a failure by Government to consult with all stakeholders before implementing large developmental projects.
Vincent Morrison, president of the National Workers' Union (NWU), is calling on Government to engage in dialogue with the unions to avoid any further work-related disturbances - as in the case of the Fiesta Hotel at Point in Hanover.
On Tuesday, about 2,000 construction workers staged a massive protest, after news spread that one of their colleagues, 57-year-old Anthony Williams of Prospect in the parish had been shot, allegedly by the police, as he tried to get into the construction site after its gates had been closed.
The workers have been disgruntled because of a new security regime implemented by the managers of the property and what they say are poor working conditions on the site. The new regime forces workers to show up half an hour early for work. Gates to the construction site are closed at 7:30 in the mornings workers say, when work begins at 8:00 a.m.
Several buildings on the site were set afire and about 11 vehicles belonging to the Fiesta hotel were damaged or destroyed. Fire was set to at least four of the vehicles. There were also reports that managers on the site had to be airlifted from the property.
Marred by disputes
Over the last two months, the construction site has been marred by a number of disputes between workers and managers, with at least two other protests staged by workers over unhygienic work conditions and underpayment for services. The facility, workers complained, lacked toilets and potable water.
The hotel development also found itself in more controversy in January, when it was found that developers had breached at least nine aspects of their building permit and a subsequent stop order was issued. The revelation of the breaches led to the resignation of Mayor Lester Crooks who had waived the hotel's building fees by 20 per cent so the company could start construction. Crooks' trucking business had a contract with Fiesta.
Since Tuesday's incident in Point, there has been no comment from Fiesta on the allegations levelled by workers, despite several attempts by The Sunday Gleaner to have them comment on the issue. However, at least one member of their team, project manager, Mariano Spini, is known to have resigned and returned home last week.
Fiesta is the second Spanish hotel under the expansion project to find itself in at odds with local workers.
Last year, another riot involving employees and security personnel at the Bah?a Pr?ncipe hotel at Pear Tree Bottom in St. Ann led to an indefinite closure of the site. Three persons, including a security guard, were left nursing gunshot wounds and other injuries inflicted by stones and other missiles. The police took 16 persons into custody.
The incident sparked a protracted dispute - over wages and other matters of concern among the more than 2,000 employees - that erupted into violence after they were reportedly told that they would not be paid outstanding wages until later that month.
Spanish hoteliers are pumping some $600 million dollars into the economy to expand the tourism sector's capacity by 12,000 rooms.
Bearing the latest incident in mind, Mr. Morrison says the Government should engage in dialogue with the union to ensure workers' rights are protected.
Dialogue among investors
"The unions must be told about these investments," he said. "They must be brought in at the early stage. There must be dialogue between the investors, the developers and the contractors so that things can be orderly."
He says the trade union has been consulted for its input into other major economic projects such as the Highway 2000 project and the Jamalco expansion project, and during those projects, there were no problems.
Mr. Morrison says the Government has to ensure developers understand that trade unions are established in the country and that they should work in partnership with them to ensure stability.
"Apparently, we never learn," he said. " Where you do not have the union involved, it is not going to be possible for you to control or deal with 3,000 workers without direct trade-union representation."
But according to Junior Minister in the Ministry of Tourism, Dr. Wykeham McNeil, all investors who come to Jamaica are properly briefed on the expected work climate.
He says JAMPRO and the Ministries of Labour and Development met with them. He is attributing the current problem to small problems, which he says, were not addressed in the beginning and have now escalated into Tuesday's event.
"There are a lot of small things, which build up, and it is what we have seen in lots of ways," he says. Dr. McNeil is, however, assuring the public that the Government has things under control.
Prime Minister Simpson Miller ordered an immediate investigation into Tuesday's protest. On Thursday, a committee comprising personnel from the Ministries of Labour and Tourism met with Fiesta at Jamaica House to discuss the labour issues at hand. The committee will meet again tomorrow morning for further discussion.
"We are all working to ensure that we can re-open the site as soon as possible having illuminated all conditions that have given rise to this," he said.
The junior minister says the Prime Minister will engage in further dialogue with the investors when she visits Spain.
