We received this in an email today. Once again… this comes from an anonymous and unproven source and should be treated like a rumour until we receive further confirmation. We post it here for discussion purposes…
“I have updates on the Royal Shop saga. Immigration has asked Anthony to leave the island. They’ve refused to renew his work permit without explanation. He has to leave on Monday morning leaving his house (which he owns) and his entire life here. The Thani’s will never be able to hire a non national if immigration can help it.”
Barbados Free Press 
LOVE your cartoon at the top, BFP!
Who is Anthony?
people who bring money and talent to the island can’t get work permits without going through hell and back.
Guyanese, Ghanaians, and cheap Chinese labour don’t really need to go through the usual hoops.
Good Lord BFP….couldnt you all at least do some research first before even posting this gossip?
…….then again, maybe the posts that are surely to follow was your plan all along.
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BFP says,
It is clearly stated that this is unattributed rumour. We’re asking for information.
That is one of the ways that a blog is different from a newspaper.
The other way that blogs are different from newspapers is that newspapers censor stories when it doesn’t suit their political or social agenda.
If you’re not happy with us, you can always hang out at the Barbados Advocate!
I am not happy with you but your choice of an alternative is the reason I am on this blog in the first place…..just dont want you to look like them or Puddin’ ‘n’ Souse….:-)
Great news if it is true.
I hope that the same thing happens to Sandy Lane Hotel, Chef Grant McPhearson was hired to run their Food and Beverage Department even as advertisments were being posted in the local newspaper. Which ment that regardless who local person applied for the job it was already a done deal. The Advertisment in the local paper was pure hypocrasy.
He is currently employed at Sandy Lane but no matter how hard I checked the local papers I could not find an advertisment from Sandy Lane requesting a work permit for him. So I can only assume that he is working illegally in Barbados and ought to be sent packing.
Back to the Royal Shop if they have to renew their lease in the port then they should not be allowed to do so.
Anon:
Such retaliatory efforts are unacceptable because they are not transparent and do not follow procedure and the law. The union and the workers were wrong in these two cases, and The Royal Shop and Sandy Lane will not compromise for fear that this would send the wrong signal that workers and the union can set their own rules where and when they choose.
Does anyone know who Anthony is?
BFP, you mentioned an “Anthony”, but who the hell is “Anthony? Are you testing response to see who will join the discussion?
Hi TMW
We printed it as we received it.
We printed it as we received it.
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BFP, since you are now informing us this is the information you received, don’t you feel that you should have made a pass on this article? Since the ‘subject’ of this matter is missing, your headline becomes artificial or in journalistic language….sensational. No wonder debate is so low since it is impossible to debate a non entity.
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BFP says,
Aren’t you being a tad argumentative here? We clearly indicated that this was received from an anonymous and unproven source and should be treated like a rumour. We clearly indicated that we were looking for further information.
You are being silly and small in your criticism.
This whole saga will go nowhere and drag on with mediators either sick or on vacation or away on urgent business and then nothing…these workers, although admittedly very wrong got “played” by the short, egocentric jackass who simply wanted a moment in time with David Thompson after he “played” the Cable & Wireless in an obscene attempt to make Owen Authur look good during the elections….ask any C&W employee what they got out of that whole episode..any recriminations against Royal Shop and Sandy Lane would be wrong and petty.
You are being silly and small in your criticism.
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Because the subject from your story is missing and we questioned you, your only line of defense is to insult, but I am above that. Since you don’t know who is Anthony, the commenters do not know who is Anthony, the story becomes headless and you should have accepted your mistake like a matured person.
I agree with the posters above.
This is a lame, pointless piece, your caveats about it being merely “for discussion purposes” nothwithstanding.
Come nuh! What’s to discuss? Rumour? Tittle-tattle? We can do that anytime at the rum shop. It makes you no better than Puddin &Souse.
Look, we don’t expect hard facts all the time here, of course not. But this? Sorry, it makes you look foolish.
You do a great job most of the time, BFP. But in this case, it’s you (not TmW) who seems silly and small.
Well, RN and TMW, I guess we will have to agree to disagree then! We will continue to occasionally put up rumours to see what develops.
Like any fishing expedition, sometimes you get a bite and sometimes you don’t.
Slug says….ask any C&W employee what they got out of that whole episode.
Check your facts ….these guys are now at $5500.00 per month for a grade 3 tech……I would say they got something.
To: Technician
I was quoting you from a previous blog when the story first came out…and you are now lying…
BFP,
I said to you a few days ago that if you continue like this you are going to lose credability. Are you so naive to say that you are just on a fishing expedition and hope to get a bite? You should not have posted this unless you did more checking.
My Grandad use to tell me “Sometimes you have to throw a sprat to catch a whale”.
And grandma use to say “put your mouth in gear before yuh talk.
Sorry my sign in name disappear
… nope, it was Mum that told me that.
22 comments and still we’re no wiser about “Anthony”.
Has “Anthony” anything to do with the Royal Shop saga or is the e-mail a tale told by an idiot?
To Anon,
I’m sure you must be dreaming if you think that many companies already have someone in mind when they place the adverts for some positions. Many companies over inflate the needs of the position just to make sure there isn’t a local who can do the job, because they already have someone on staff, or waiting in the wings they want to fill the position.
It will be a shame if Royal Shop has to bend to the wills of the labor bosses who let some lazy twit of a girl do what she want’s in a job she should be grateful for having just because she is part of a union.
The guy’s name is Anthony Sabastian, he left yesterday because after 7 years with no problems with Immigration, his work permit and residency permission was suddenly not renewed and with no explanation.
The guy’s name is Anthony Sabastian,
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Now tell the community what this guy has to do with the Royal Shop issue or the price of gas.
He worked for the Royal Shop. Govt/ wouldn’t renew his work permit and out he went. Skin not dark enough is the realy reason.
Was he directly involved with the Royal Shop as a HR person, or responsible for advising the management. Let us know his connection.
Thank you very much not i i wanted to know who anthony was bad bad bad. Whew what a relief
It will be a shame if Royal Shop has to bend to the wills of the labor bosses who let some lazy twit of a girl do what she want’s in a job she should be grateful for having just because she is part of a union.
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Why should she be grateful for a job…didnt she go every day and make thousands in sales for the Thanis only to be paid peanuts?
It is people like you who make me sick to the stomach with this slave mentality. Maybe the whole episode was handled wrongly from the start but please dont belittle the worker by saying she should be grateful.Go in the store and see for your self and honestly tell me who should be grateful.
gee I’m sorry.. I get hired by a company, sign a contract, and given my work hours and that gives me the right to turn around and tell my bosses NO!!.. I will not work at the store you want me to work at, even though it says in my contract I can be transferred. and NO I will not work late hours because I’m a single mother (which I was when I started) but yet, for extra money, I worked late hours over the Christmas Period. She didn’t even go to the store and try to work things out, she just didn’t do her job. So what is the owner going to do, let this person run their company??
The people I feel most sorry for are those same people who go into jobs, get talked into joining a union and get told that by doing so they will never lose their job, and regardless of how they perform in their job they can’t be fired. and then when they don’t perform and do get fired, they go running off to old Trotty to solve the worlds problems.. and who is going to pay all those people who go on strike because of this?? not the unions.. as there is no strike fund to support the workers.. all that money that goes into the unions goes into the pockets of the big ups who run it. not the little guy who really needs the help.
No I don’t have a slave mentality I’m just a bit more realistic.. I work hard for my money and my company, I do my job well. I talk to the powers that be and work out any problems that come up. I don’t go running off to to hide behind the Unions and hope they solve the problems for me.
You still refuse to deal with the fact that even though she did wrong like any successful company both the employer and employee need each other, so to say that any employee ‘should be grateful’ for their job sounds a tad bit condescending to me.
I worked at one of the biggest companies in Barbados before I was made redundant. In those 13 years, thanks to the same Union people like to cry down , I had a salary that was the envy of most employees at other companies. I left with quite a bit and was able to start my own company, had a grant up to my last salary to study,while employed there my mum, girlfriend or anyone I felt like was on my medical plan.4 years later and my pension is enough to provide a sound education for my daughter…all this was done through negotiations by the Union, as I can never imagine most employers doing this without prodding. Unions are necessary but like any organization, are only as good as the people who head them.
I would like to think that most people apply for a job and not beg for it.
think about it’s last post makes a lot of sense to me, especially his crits of unions, second para.
In the teaching profession in the UK I never joined a union. I fought my own battles, took insurance out if I had to. Even my head teachers were in the same union that they wanted me to join!
I am not saying that unions served their purpose in days gone by, but now they are merely an anachronism in the 21st century. Go with the times, Bajans, and do your own thing. They only want your money, they do not want the work if you get into difficulties. Well, that’s my experience, anyway.
What interested people could do is call the Royal Shop and ask for Mr. Anthony Sabastian. When they hear “he’s not here today” or whatever – they can ask “when should I call again?” and so forth. They can then give us the responses.
So we have now learnt that Mr Anthony is a non- mational – he must have been a problem to the Union in this matter – nuff said!
We should realise that in the final analysis the economy is largely built on a bubble of non-national employment. The Duke of York loves to hold the threat of summary expulsion over the heads of employers. He is a small person in all respects.
Many of the companies in the offshore and tourism industries are managed by non-nationals. They are the people with the invested funds and they want to control how those funds are managed – seems obvious and simple to me. At the same time many Bajans employed in those companies are enjoying levels of remuneration way beyond what they could earn in local companies. They also get professional training, exposure to a well strtuctured business environment and an opportunity for self improvement. These things will assist them when they move on to another employer.
The Unions need to wake up and realise that they are still operating in the nineteenth century – just listen to the Duke and his frequent references to slavery and ‘Massa’ he just can’t move on.
I hope the Royal Shop and SL continue to hang tough and the Union is made to get real on this one.
Consider also…
The recrimination from said companies that go up against the union. It isn’t pretty, I can tell you!
If the union makes a show of face, then the company can simply fire you, for “sub-par performance”…and trust me, the unions will accept that; they have no choice.
A lot of games are played here, and one may have to decide to either stick it out, or head for greener pastures.
The word “union” is a very bad word to companies here in Barbados, and honestly, if you are in one, you ain’t getting a job! Not a good one, at least. So some are damned if they do, damned if they don’t…and one has to be VERY careful about how they deal with that.
I have no time for the unions as they presently exist in Barbados. Not saying that some good does not come out of them but by in large they are all about the aggrandisement of the little people at the top of their heap.
Ever wonder why the word “union” is a bad word to most employers? Have a look next time the Duke parades his stuff at a wild cat walk out (which by the way is not allowed according to the union rules). Check what he says, his posturing and the tone – all stuff that will fill the hearts our of employers, local and foreign, with real confidence.
I am aware of recent negotiations by said union for an organisation that included a request/demand by the union for FIVE weeks holiday for staff! Not bad for an organisation promoting productivity. And this in a business that is marginal at best. Fortunately that one got nowhere.
If the unions back away from the offshore companies they must know why but I have not seen this happen in my experience.
The truth is that there are still many instances of staff being made to sign for more wages than they actually get, NIS not being paid in, work hours outside of the regulated times and such like but the union does not seem to proactively address these matters. I guess to do so would require that some of their officers actually had to WORK! Heaven forbid that day should ever arise. Those employers should be identified and dealt with harshly and promptly. Most of us know where to find them so it would not be too hard for the union to do so too.
In this day and age the union needs to spend more time educating the workers and less time allowing poor working practices to continue among the workers. Then we would see the country truly move forward as a developed country.
But pigs may also fly – I guess we can but dream!