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.

Visiting artist Sandy Meyer is conducting her annual watercolor workshops today and Friday, Jan. 15, at Tillett Gardens on St. Thomas. The workshops are open to all skill levels and participants may attend either session or both.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. There's a fee of $30 for one day and $50 for both, not including materials. Reservations are required, as space is limited. Call 775-1929 or e-mail to tillett@islands.vi.

Artist Sandy Meyer conducts the second of two watercolor workshops at Tillett Gardens. It's open to all skill levels. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The registration fee for this day only is $30, excluding materials. Reservations are required; call 775-1929 or e-mail to tillett@islands.vi.

Visiting artist Sandy Meyer is conducting the first of two day-long watercolor workshops today at Tillett Gardens. Participants may be of any degree of experience and will work at their own skill level. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Friday, Jan. 14. Registration is $30 for one day or $50 for both; the fee does not include materials.
At the end of each day, every participant will have completed a painting. Reservations are required as space is limited. Call 775-1929 or e-mail to tillett@islands.vi.

Visiting artist Sandy Meyer is conducting the second of two day-long watercolor workshops today at Tillett Gardens. Participants may be of any degree of experience and will work at their own skill level. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is $30 for the day; the fee does not include materials.
At the end of the day, every participant will have completed a painting. Reservations are required as space is limited. Call 775-1929 or e-mail to tillett@islands.vi.

Ad executive Jay Schulberg will share his secrets about getting people to think differently with members of the Ad Club of the Virgin Islands. The public is invited to join Ad Club members for lunch noon Tuesday, Jan. 11 at Frenchman's Reef.
Schulberg, a major figure in the worldwide advertising community, has captured the imagination of the world with the creation of the Milk Moustache Campaign. The event Tuesday, part of the continuing Ad Club Professional Series, is sponsored by St. Thomas Dairies.
Schulberg, creative director of Bozell Worldwide, one of the world's largest advertising agencies, said, "Our job is to create the most innovative, the most persuasive, the most rewarding advertising that sells brilliantly." The agency began with the idea of creating an ad campaign that would be simple, charming and fun. "We knew if it made people smile, we had a very good chance of getting our health message across," said Schulberg. The final decision was to use celebrities with a milk moustache.
The Milk Moustache Campaign has won several awards and caught on faster than any other campaign he created. Schulberg is also responsible for other high profile ad campaigns, notably the Jeep "Snow Covered" spot showing a mysterious something burrowing through deep snow across a vast, frozen, lifeless tundra.
Lunch is $25 for members, $30 nonmembers. There will also be a lunch in St. Croix on Monday, Jan 10. St. Thomas reservations are being accepted at Austin Advertising, 776-7828 and on St. Croix at 778-5118.

Ad executive Jay Schulberg will share his secrets about getting people to think differently with members of the Ad Club of the Virgin Islands. The public is invited to join Ad Club members for lunch noon Monday, Jan.10 at Tamarind Reef Hotel. Schulberg, a major figure in the worldwide advertising community, has captured the imagination of the world with the creation of the Milk Moustache Campaign. The event Monday, part of the continuing Ad Club Professional Series, is sponsored by St. Thomas Dairies.
Schulberg, creative director of Bozell Worldwide, one of the world's largest advertising agencies, said, "Our job is to create the most innovative, the most persuasive, the most rewarding advertising that sells brilliantly." The agency began with the idea of creating an ad campaign that would be simple, charming and fun. "We knew if it made people smile, we had a very good chance of getting our health message across," said Schulberg. The final decision was to use celebrities with a milk moustache.
The Milk Moustache Campaign has won several awards and caught on faster than any other campaign he created. Schulberg is also responsible for other high profile ad campaigns, notably the Jeep "Snow Covered" spot showing a mysterious something burrowing through deep snow across a vast, frozen, lifeless tundra.
Lunch is $25 for members, $30 nonmembers. There will also be a lunch in St. Thomas on Tuesday, Jan 11. St. Thomas reservations are being accepted at Austin Advertising, 776-7828 and on St. Croix at 778-5118.

Ad executive Jay Schulberg will share his secrets about getting people to think differently with members of the Ad Club of the Virgin Islands. The public is invited to join Ad Club members for lunch noon Monday, Jan.10 at Tamarind Reef Hotel.
Schulberg, a major figure in the worldwide advertising community, has captured the imagination of the world with the creation of the Milk Moustache Campaign. The event Monday, part of the continuing Ad Club Professional Series, is sponsored by St. Thomas Dairies.
Schulberg, creative director of Bozell Worldwide, one of the world's largest advertising agencies, said, "Our job is to create the most innovative, the most persuasive, the most rewarding advertising that sells brilliantly." The agency began with the idea of creating an ad campaign that would be simple, charming and fun. "We knew if it made people smile, we had a very good chance of getting our health message across," said Schulberg. The final decision was to use celebrities with a milk moustache.
The Milk Moustache Campaign has won several awards and caught on faster than any other campaign he created. Schulberg is also responsible for other high profile ad campaigns, notably the Jeep "Snow Covered" spot showing a mysterious something burrowing through deep snow across a vast, frozen, lifeless tundra.
Lunch is $25 for members, $30 nonmembers. There will also be a lunch in St. Thomas on Tuesday, Jan 11. St. Croix reservations are being accepted at Austin Advertising, 778-5118 and on St. Thomas at 776-7828.

Ad executive Jay Schulberg will share his secrets about getting people to think differently with members of the Ad Club of the Virgin Islands. The public is invited to join Ad Club members for lunch noon Tuesday, Jan. 11 at Frenchman's Reef.
Schulberg, a major figure in the worldwide advertising community, has captured the imagination of the world with the creation of the Milk Moustache Campaign. The event Tuesday, part of the continuing Ad Club Professional Series, is sponsored by St. Thomas Dairies.
Schulberg, creative director of Bozell Worldwide, one of the world's largest advertising agencies, said, "Our job is to create the most innovative, the most persuasive, the most rewarding advertising that sells brilliantly." The agency began with the idea of creating an ad campaign that would be simple, charming and fun. "We knew if it made people smile, we had a very good chance of getting our health message across," said Schulberg. The final decision was to use celebrities with a milk moustache.
The Milk Moustache Campaign has won several awards and caught on faster than any other campaign he created. Schulberg is also responsible for other high profile ad campaigns, notably the Jeep "Snow Covered" spot showing a mysterious something burrowing through deep snow across a vast, frozen, lifeless tundra.
Lunch is $25 for members, $30 nonmembers. There will also be a lunch in St. Croix on Monday, Jan 10. St. Thomas reservations are being accepted at Austin Advertising, 776-7828 and on St. Croix at 778-5118.

Beal Aerospace is "abandoning" its plans for St. Croix, despite comments by Beal officials as recently as this week that the company still wanted to build its world headquarters and rocket-assembly plant on the island.
In a brief, three-sentence statement to the media Friday afternoon, Wade Gates, Beal’s director of corporate affairs, said the company is "abandoning efforts to build its corporate offices and primary assembly facility on St. Croix. Beal Aerospace will continue to explore its expansion opportunities in the continental United States."
Gates said in the release that the company would not comment further and he didn’t return a call Friday evening.
Beal’s announcement comes after news earlier this week that the State of Florida offered the company an unspecified incentive package to locate the assembly and headquarters facility with the Spaceport Florida Authority at Cape Canaveral. The Spaceport Authority provides financing, advocacy, technical support, business incentives and facility/infrastructure development for space-related projects.
Despite the offer from Florida, Gates said Beal planned to pursue the St. Croix development because it is located near the company’s possible launch sites in Guyana and Anguilla.
Another possible factor in the company’s decision to pull out of St. Croix was a recent legal decision made in Territorial Court. Caribbean Space Technologies, an affiliate of Beal Aerospace, and the V.I. government were blocked by Territorial Court Judge Alphonso Andrews on Dec. 15 from implementing a land exchange agreement that would have given the company public property in order for it to construct its facility.
Andrews granted plaintiff Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen’s request for a permanent injunction against the land swap that was approved by the Legislature on Oct. 5. The swap would have given CST 14.5 acres of public land, known as Camp Arawak, in exchange for land it owns in Estate Whim and Grange Hill.
Although CST/Beal already own 270 acres adjacent to Camp Arawak, company officials contend that they need the public property for a portion of the assembly plant and parking lot.
Again, despite the ruling, Gates said the company "vowed" to appeal the decision and was starting the environmental permit process for the project.
A lawsuit filed by the St. Croix Environmental Association awaited the company as well.