Irate casino staff to meet with hotel bosses
Two meetings have been scheduled for next week to allow frustrated staff at the Crystal Palace Casino to air their concerns,The Guardian was informed on Thursday.
A group of irate casino employees earlier this week expressed concern over what they considered unduly harsh new disciplinary measures introduced by the casinos management.
They further claimed that the new rules violated the labour laws of The Bahamas, and were an attempt to "weed out" Bahamian casino workers, and have them replaced by Americans.
Questioned about the staff complaints, General Manager of the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino, Robert "Sandy" Sands, told The Guardian that the matter had not been brought to the attention of senior management. However on Thursday, he confirmed that following a meeting held earlier in the morning, a number of "issues" that relate to casino employees had surfaced and two meetings have been scheduled for next week Tuesday and Thursday.
HR Dept involved
"Executive Management in the Human Resources Department and casino management met on those issues today and certain corrective measures will be taken regarding the wording of certain memos that have been issued," he said.
He continued that, "We are also very concerned about employee morale within our casino, and as a result of the actions and the meetings which took place this morning, we will convene a meeting with casino management and operational management next Tuesday, to discuss actions we will be taking and we will also have a general casino staff meeting next week Thursday at 11 a.m., in an effort to resolve all the issues that have been brought to our attention and to allow the employees within the casino to bring to our attention, any issues that we did not address up to time of this particular meeting."
Asked what specific issues had surfaced at Thursdays meeting, Mr Sands said he would not manage the affairs of the hotels employees via the press, and all issues brought to his attention would be directly addressed with casino employees.
"It would be wrong for me to discuss them with you first. We want to have the opportunity to discuss these issues directly with them and we would then be prepared to make some type of statement," he said.
On the other hand, Mr Sands did not confirm or deny the various allegations that were made by casino employees earlier this week. He maintained that all matters would be addressed with casino employees in the general staff meeting set for next week.
The concerned employees outlined in a statement issued to The Guardian earlier this week that some of the "ludicrous" rules, reportedly introduced by Casino Manager, Neil Horton, included the transition from a written warning to a one-week suspension and having to submit a doctors sick slip if they happen to leave work "halfway" through a shift due to illness.
They also claimed that the casino manager continuously issued memos that are not written on the hotels letterhead, and copies are not directed to the Human Resources Department or other relevant upper management staff.
2005-07-12
