A veteran trade unionist is crying shame on the Wyndham Nassau Resort following reports that nearly 100 of its employees may lose their jobs if the Cable Beach resort follows through with its plan to make those initially temporary layoffs, permanent.

Past President of The Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU), Thomas Bastian said he is disappointed, particularly considering that this is not the first time the hotel has made a decision that is contrary to its agreement.

“When they got the concession to develop that property, the government gave a tremendous contribution to the development for job security at the hotel. Now that the development is taking place, they have waited until they closed the hotel to reopen it and then close down the food and beverage outlets,” he said.

“They knew this before they closed the hotel. They could have made this position clear. So, I condemn their actions at this particular point in time.”

BHCAWU President Nicole Martin last week revealed that the Wyndham wanted to extend the closure of certain food outlets; a decision that was contrary to what both the union and the government were told prior to the hotel’s temporary closure on September 4.

“We have an industrial agreement that says if you are going to close and outlet, there is a six- week notice period. There is no provision in our agreement for the payment in lieu of that kind of notice,” Ms. Martin explained at the time.

She added that the union is not willing to take with the resort until it reopens its outlets.

Meantime, Mr. Bastian yesterday called on the government to step in.

“We cannot let development take place against the interest of human survival. The people ought to be protected in the process,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that those people with mortgages, car payments, insurance and school fees are going to face a very dark Christmas. This should not happen in The Bahamas and it could have been avoided.”