Princess Hotel employee fired for exposing appalling working conditions...she alleged

Princess Hotel employee fired for exposing appalling working conditions…she alleged

Dec 02, 2015 News

Joan Bradt thought she was making life easier for herself and others working at Princess Hotel and Casino when she, in the company of other colleagues, approached Minister with responsibility for Labour, Simona Broomes, and apprised her of the less than encouraging working conditions at the entity.
Little did she know that was probably the worst thing she could have done in the eyes of her employers. Bradt, the mother of a toddler, was fired yesterday. The young woman was given no reason as to why her service was terminated. In fact, she refused to sign a termination letter handed to her and another document that stated she was given just over $100,000 severance.
Bradt said that she asked for at least one reason why she was being sent off as a prerequisite for her to sign the document, but no reason was offered. None of the documents handed to her, including her termination, reflected any reason why she was fired.
This coming about a month after she complained to the Ministry, Bradt believes that she was fired for exercising her right.
As the tears flowed down her cheeks, Bradt, who was visibly trying to regain her composure said, “I know I would not get back my job. But I want some kind of justice to come out of this.”
She said that she felt as if she was being penalized for asking for basic working rights.
Bradt recalled an incident when a manager, name given as Tuna, braced against her and shouted in her face as he frowned upon her delayed attendance to a table.
She said that to call them, the managers usually make the sounds used to call dogs.
Bradt worked at Princess for about three years. She said, “It was not always like that bad but since these new set of managers came, things really get bad. And they were upset we went to Minister Broomes.”
She said that, she and the other employees were trying “very hard to be on our Ps and our Qs because we knew they de vex.”
She explained that she felt that she was given the brunt of the punishment for this action, “because my picture was featured, the other girls were not recognized.”
The way the picture was taken, the other girls’ identities were protected but Bradt’s profile was shown in the photo.
“It is sad that these people are allowed to come to our shores and treat our women this way, it is ridiculous. They should have to follow the same labour laws that local businesses follow. They are especially disrespectful to women.
She recounted an incident involving a man who was sent home because a manager asked him to remove a table and he told the manager “when the rain done.”
Bradt said that sexual harassment simmered since the story went public about a senior official who was accused of this against a junior employee.
“But nothing came out of that really. The police came but then they end up eating with them managers and everything die down. I hope the same thing happens again”.
A manager, Ozgur, was contacted last evening for a comment on the story. However, he blatantly refused.
Exploitation, adverse working conditions and physical assault were among the plethora of complaints that employees had brought to Minister Broomes’ attention.
About a month ago, Broomes dispatched a team to investigate the allegations.
A number of employees from the International Hotel and Casino in recent days have been lodging complaints with the Ministry over the now seemingly unbearable situation.
Among some of the complaints were the erratic manner which some employees are being paid, compounded with the fact that overtime and other allowances are not paid.
According to one of the employees, the company is in the habit of sometimes paying some of the staff every other month and employees are forced to work beyond the stipulated minimum working hours per week.
The Minister said that this was unacceptable and would not be condoned, as it constitutes a violation of Guyana’s labour laws.
The Minister was also presented with a number of testimonials signed by other employees at the International Hotel complaining of maltreatment – some complained of physical assault. Some of those lodging complaints claimed that they were sometimes shoved, while being ordered to attend to the tables of certain customers.
Broomes had dispatched a team to the hotel to investigate the alleged breaches immediately, with a view to taking affirmative action should the allegations prove true.
The Minister said, “I am not going to have this one run over, I am going to deal with this one.”

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Princess Hotel employee fired for exposing appalling working conditions…she alleged

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