Bermudian hotel staff forced out by frustration
Bermudians -- including some who have been in the tourism industry for 20 years -- are leaving Elbow Beach Hotel "in droves'' due to "frustration'' with management.
The Royal Gazette has learned that more than 20 local staff -- including managers -- quit within a four-week period.
And several disgruntled workers said they were barely "hanging on'' until another job came along.
Speaking to The Royal Gazette under the condition that their names would not be revealed, former and current staff claimed that foreigners, particularly Germans, were taking over the hotel.
Foreign workers, they said, were either displacing locals or receiving preferential treatment.
Providing The Royal Gazette with a list of 17 complaints and other information which have been filed with the Labour Relations Office, the concerned workers said: "They have stuck a German manager under every Bermudian manager to move them (the non-Bermudian) up. That's why that divide and conquer attitude is so great here.'' One employee pointed out that a Bermudian could do the job of the non-Bermudian executive manager Wolfgang Greiner who "only assisted front desk and sent amenities to rooms''.
And another worker noted that a non-Bermudian who was working as a front desk manager had to be taught by Bermudians.
According to complaints filed in a meeting with Acting Labour Relations Officer Thaddeus Hollis on July 16, staff complained that German-born Petra Becker -- who has since been fired -- was being trained by the Bermudian assistant front desk manager Theresa Harney, who is a graduate of the Bermuda College and certified in front desk management.
They also noted that the "Rafael exchange'' entailed sending Bermudians for one week to "observe'' for two days at Rafael's hotels in Miami and New York, while non-Bermudians were granted 18-month work permits in Bermuda as part of the exchange.
And they claimed that the number of Bermudian managers had declined from 19 in December, 1995 to eight.
The Bermudians put the blame at the feet of German-born general manager Ingo Schweder, who started at the hotel early this year when it was taken over by the Monaco-based Rafael Group, and local managers who were "frightened to stand up to him''.
"The shop stewards don't have the support of the managers,'' one woman told The Royal Gazette . "We have some strong Bermudians there who are kissing a**. They are really afraid of this man.
"Everybody talks about it to each other, but they are afraid for their jobs because Mr. Schweder is not afraid to let people go. And if he had his way, we would all be gone. That is his ultimate goal.
"He thinks of Bermuda as a third-world country. He believes we are so inferior that we don't know better.'' The hotel workers warned that if nothing was done soon about the situation, the Island would ultimately suffer. "Staff morale is zero,'' one frustrated employee said. "They say tourism is down because they (visitors) are not getting value for their money. We can see why. How we act to guests is reaction to treatment we are getting.
"If we have to hate coming to work in the morning, then something's wrong.
"They don't show us the respect we deserve. He (Mr. Schweder) talks to managers like he is talking to his children. In front of guests he's the smiling, charming man who does no wrong, but behind the scenes, he's something else. "Ingo Schweder needs to be stopped. Someone needs to give him guidelines.'' Mr. Schweder and the Human Resource manager of Elbow Beach, Robert Calderon, did not deny that some workers had left the hotel due to frustration. But they said the workers were frustrated because the hotel was no longer prepared to tolerate employees' incompetence and bad attitudes.
"This hotel has gone through five managers and two management companies,'' said Bermudian Mr. Calderon. "People are being required to work longer and harder to provide a better product for the visitor. For some people that has been difficult. I think the frustration is inward.'' Both Mr. Calderon and Mr. Schweder stressed that the needs of the visitor was paramount to the success of the hotel and ultimately Bermuda.
Noting that hotels in Bermuda were judged by the same standards as hotels around the world, Mr. Schweder said: "It is not an issue of Bermudians and non-Bermudians. The issue should be about what the guests want and how we deliver it. Everybody has to obey the demands of the guests.'' Mr. Schweder added that many of the complaints were not valid and were based on emotion, rather than fact.
He stressed that the facts were that Elbow Beach had increased its guest satisfaction from 60 percent in 1995 to 90 percent and improved return visitor business from 50 percent last year to 70 percent this year.
This, he said, was as a result of the hotel's ability to meet the demands of the international tourism market by: Sending 16 managers and other employees to its sister resort in Turnberry Isle, USA to become familiar with Rafael's international standards; Hiring a Bermudian management trainee who will spend three months in Germany this winter; Extending a $5,000 scholarship to a Bermudians studying in England; Sending an additional two senior managers to Europe for training for two months each this winter; and Giving nine Bermudian students summer employment.
Mr. Calderon added that no Bermudians had been replaced by foreigners.
The hotel's aim in bringing in foreign staff was to assist local employees with the hotel's "demanding'' standards, he said.
And he explained that some workers were only able to spend a week at Rafael's overseas properties because the Elbow could not afford to have many away at one time.
Frustration flourishes at hotel However, Mr. Calderon said, the visits were considered a part of training because Bermudians were exposed to the Rafael method.
Employees who were scheduled to spend months away were expected to receive more intense training, he added.
"If a Bermudian only worked in Bermuda, he does not know what the clients expectation is and is not aware of the social environment where they client is coming from,'' Mr. Schweder noted.
"The reason we send our employees abroad is we have to give them the opportunity to see that.
"If we believed that the international client comes here and wants something less than international standards than we're in the darkness.'' Mr. Schweder pointed out that often the complaints come from those who do not understand what is going on outside of Bermuda.
"Rafael is the first international deluxe company who operated in Bermuda,'' he said. "We would rather close the hotel rather than lower our standards.'' But staff, who spoke to The Royal Gazette , said they were not against the hotel group's high standards.
"I don't think the staff is against change,'' one worker said. "We want to be the best hotel. We want to be trained. But we want our human rights. We just don't want to be abused.'' Both Labour Minister Quinton Edness and Shadow Labour Minister Alex Scott said they were aware of the complaints.
"It is probably why a very important part of our tourism industry is in trouble,'' Mr. Scott said. "Bermuda used to have a strong repeat business.
That was because of he services and attention and hospitality they received because of the attitude of Bermudians on their job. When you have management failing to inspire and support Bermudians who are trying to do a good job, you have a breakdown in the esprit de corps of the staff and the hospitality that that particular hotel extends to its clients.'' But Mr. Scott said the complaints were not unique to Elbow Beach. Hotel workers around the Island were feeling more frustrated and alienated, he noted.
"When we have foreign managers brought into manage our properties, they should not make Bermuda like the last place they served or came from,'' he stressed. "They should realise there is a culture here. They must fit in. The staff cannot be expected to behave like them. What will happen, they will begin to change the character of the Bermudian product.'' Referring to the Elbow Beach case, Mr. Scott said he was particularly concerned about the way management was interacting with staff and the way management had the ability to circumvent legislation "put in place to protect Bermudians''.
"It appears that the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs is aware of these allegations,'' he said. "What has been done to follow this up? and what was the consequences? "When you have allegations that there seems to be preferential treatment given to non-Bermudian staff, that sends off an alarm bell.'' Mr. Scott said there also appeared to be an attitude among managers in the hotel industry that getting people through Immigration was not a difficult process.
"This raises questions about the credibility of the Ministry when it comes to managing Immigration and work permits, especially when Bermudians are losing jobs in the hotel industry,'' he said.
"All of this becomes important because there appears to be a growing sense that there is deep staff frustration over the ease at which non-Bermudians are allowed in the hotel industry and the preferential treatment they receive.'' He also noted that many who complained to Immigration feared reprisals because confidential information often made its way back to employers.
"The Minister of Immigration must be held responsible for any Bermudian who reports to his Ministry,'' Mr. Scott said. "If that Bermudian loses his or her job, the Minister has to be held responsible. It is something we have taken up strongly with the Minister.
"By allowing this to take place, he is cutting off Bermudians as a source of these complaints. Therefore we are of the opinion that the Minister wants this to happen.
"The Minister does not have the will and ability to provide confidential treatment. We hope that this file will be the one that causes him to soberly reflect on his responsibility.'' Mr. Edness said he had met with employees "who brought some perceived difficulties'' to him and with Mr. Schweder about some of the complaints.
"We've been satisfied with the way they were handled and they were things that really should not have constituted a problem,'' he added.
"Mr. Schweder is of a different culture and maybe he does not express himself the way some Bermudians are used to. But the Rafael Group is interested in building a top class hotel with a top class status. And if they can achieve that, that will allow them to have more jobs for Bermudians.'' Mr. Edness said he believed that Immigration was doing its job in protecting the interest of Bermudians. But he said Bermudians "have to realise that change has to take place''.
"That (Elbow) was one of our premium hotels and it was allowed to go down hill,'' he noted. "I urge staff there that if they have a problem they should go to Mr. Schweder and talk it out and accept that change is inevitable.
"I've talked with George Kanaan (chairman of Rafael) and the Jens Grafe, president of Rafael, and I believe they are sincere and want to change and improve that property. And if some Bermudians have some concerns with that than that is too bad.
"I will continue to talk to Mr. Schweder, if he is too autocratic. But I would like to see from the staff some form of cooperation so that they can turn that hotel around and save their jobs. I see where there is a tremendous opportunity there.''