Employees at the Mount Irvine Bay Hotel in Tobago have long grieved over salaries that are owed to them since the month of March. The employees have reported to the PSA that any discussions regarding the outstanding payments have so far been disregarded.

The employees via phone interviews stated that a similar incident happened late last year, where they were unpaid for the months of September, October and November, however, for those outstanding months, they were later paid. Now the hotel’s staff is facing the same issue, where their salaries are now outstanding for the months of March, April and May. Several employees, such as those employed in the maintenance department, indicated that their payments are owed for longer periods, as they were maintaining the hotel, whilst other employees were sent home in May.

Subsequently, the employees who were without their salaries for months were told that they could not seek assistance from Government relief grants, as the Prime Minister during his press conferences, never gave a mandate to close hotels.

The Public Services Association (PSA), represented by Tobago’s Industrial Relations Officer, Hayden Darren Duke, has stated that he and PSA’s grievance officers lodged at Tobago’s office have so far been in correspondence with the employees and are strategically planning their way forward to engage in conversations with the hotel’s owner and management.

The members stated that they are so far happy with the representation and look forward to the PSA engaging their employer to discuss a way forward.