The president of the Central Labor Council Luis "Tito" Morales has weighed in on this week’s termination of employees at V.I. Cement and Building Products and Bluebeard’s Castle Hotel.
Morales said that Bluebeard’s Castle should no longer qualify for Industrial Development Commission program benefits. He cited the hotel’s inability to retain the requisite number of workers, and its transition to a more time-share oriented facility. "When you go for IDC benefits, you must state the number of workers you will hire in order to qualify. In the case of Bluebeards, this weeks layoffs have reduced that amount. The other issue is the admittance by the hotel that it is now a time share-property," Morales said.
Bluebeard’s Castle terminated 19 employees this week, all food and beverage workers. The hotel claims to have lost money in its restaurant operations over the past three years, and so is leasing them out to another company. At last word, four workers had been re-hired as new employees by the company sub-leasing the hotel’s restaurant and bars.
Morales is a member of the labor team negotiating the fate of some of the
45 employees terminated when Devcon International sold V.I. Cement and Building Products. Some reportedly have been hired back as new employees, how many has not been announced. The labor leader remains optimistic that more will be, once the construction season picks up. "Not much construction work goes on during the holiday season which we are just getting past. After the holiday season, construction picks up again."
For those not hired by the new company, Morales and the Steeworkers Union is attempting to win them benefits under the territory’s plant closing law.
Whether the sale constitutes a plant closing is a major point of contention. While he acknowledged that nothing illegal has been done, Morales expressed disappointment over the fate of longtime employees of the cement plant.
"The problem the union has is how things are done. You have employees that have worked 36 years or more for Devcon that have been terminated. No one knows what it is to give your life for a company and because of a sale, you are no longer with that company," Morales said.
