Unionised Grand Palm workers cry foul
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Friday January 29, 2016 16:13
The Grand Palm Hotel Casino and Convention Resort effected a salary increase of non-bargaining employees by six percent while the trade union representing The Grand Palm workers, the Botswana Hotel, Travel and Tourism Workers Union, is locked in negotiations with management. The negotiations are said to have commenced on January 27, 2016.
Some employees, who spoke to Mmegi on condition of anonymity, said the decision by management to increase the salaries of the non-bargaining workers prejudice the ongoing negotiations. They complain that the management was playing unfair tactics as they delayed salary negotiations, which were supposed to commence in November 2015. They say the employer’s behaviour showed that he disregarded the importance of bargaining.
“This is not right because they are pre-empting the outcome of the negotiations,” one of the employees said. “It shows that the negotiations are just a mere formality because they know that’s what they can offer.”
The workers view the unilateral decision of the employer to increase salaries of the non-unionised staff as a way of using the ‘divide and rule’ strategy.
The Grand Palm Hotel Casino and Convention Resort operations executive, Clive Tavener, said that there is nothing wrong with increasing salaries of the non-bargaining employees while negotiations for salary increase are ongoing. He said that is the practice they have adopted over the years. He said that most of their employees are non-unionised so it would be unfair on them if they wait for negotiations to be complete before they get their salary increase.
“Salary negotiations can last a long time if we don’t agree with the union and it would be unfair to those who don’t bargain,” Tavener said. “Each year we increase their salaries in January and that is what happened this year. We do them separately.”
He added: “We can settle for more than six or less, it does not mean if we have increased salaries for non-bargaining employees by six percent we are immovable.”
The union’s executive officer, Nicholas Motiki, confirmed that they were locked in meetings with the Grand Palm management negotiating salaries. He however said the union was not aware that the employer took a unilateral decision to increase the salaries of non-bargaining workers by six percent.
“If the employer has awarded a six percent increase to non-unionised members while negotiations are still on, then it would be a shame,” he said. “We once discussed this issue before and management had promised that it would never happen again because it prejudices the negotiations.” he said.