Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle says Hotel Tower owner Salim Azeez has pledged his commitment to paying former workers owed wages, although he has given no timeframe of when this would be done.
“We had meetings with them and they promised to tie up but that they were having challenges… he was supposed to write to state his position but to date he has not done so,” Ogle told Stabroek News yesterday.
A few weeks ago, Minister of Labour Nanda Gopaul told Stabroek News that although no formal complaint was made by the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU), the union representing the workers, the ministry would intervene after management of the business broke several promises to pay over what is owed.
Some 67 workers are owed a total of $5,577,633 in wages, salaries and other benefits.
Ogle said that at the recent meeting with the ministry, Azeez explained that the hotel was facing a financial crisis and did not have a buyer as yet and as a result could not pay the former workers. “We were not asked to intervene but we did because of the workers affected and we called the man and he came as promised and walked with documents to back up his claim that he did not have the money as yet,” Ogle explained.
He said that Azeez asked for “more time” and that the ministry gave in to the request although he would not say how much time has been given. “In negotiations, you allow people the time to try to get their act together but you can’t wait forever… he said that does not have the money now and us coming down saying, ‘you have to find it,’ will not mean anything if he doesn’t have it. So, we are giving him some time,” he said.
Stabroek News was told that while many persons had expressed interest in purchasing the hotel, there has been no commitment to buy it. “One day you hear New Thriving. Next day, some Italian. Next, a Spanish businessman. Then Alfro Alphonso. But no one seems really interested because maybe the money they asking for is too much,” a source close to the hotel told Stabroek News.
Ogle said that the decision was taken to give Azeez ample time to write his ministry, outlining what the course of action will be and when the workers will be paid, so that if the matter ended up in litigation he cannot say he was not given adequate time.
CCWU President Sherwood Clarke has said that the workers have already secured the services of attorney Nigel Hughes to help them obtain what is owed to them. Hughes is currently drafting legal documents to this effect.
On May 23rd, the hotel abruptly closed. Workers protested after they were told through an anonymous phone call that letters were at the front counter for them. They said when they collected their letters, they learned that that day was the last day of work for them as the hotel was closing. They continued their protests in the days that followed.
The hotel then released a statement on May 27 in which it explained its abrupt closure, while saying that business had declined dramatically in recent times. It assured that assets would be liquidated to pay outstanding amounts to its employees.
On June 11th, Azeez had met with officials from the ministry and explained that the hotel had a buyer but that the buyer wasn’t assuming legacy costs and did not want the employees that had been on staff. He said that he would pay workers off from an initial payment given to the company by the new buyer to pay off all expenses.
The hotel, however, reneged on that promise. Azeez’s legal counsel, Marcel Bobb, told the workers that the hotel’s first obligation was to the bank, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL).
Workers became enraged as they felt they were being wronged.
Their complaints led to more promises of a payoff. Recently, the union met with Bobb twice and he promised them again that the hotel was working to pay them. However, he could not say when and this prompted the union to also seek a legal representative.
