A months-long dispute over unpaid severance for former employees of the closed Grand Lucayan Resort in the Bahamas has escalated, with the country’s top trade union leader announcing imminent legal action if the government fails to meet its obligations within seven days.
Obie Ferguson, president of the Bahamas Trade Union Congress, told reporters on Thursday that the union has waited long enough for the Davis administration to resolve the outstanding payments owed to hundreds of former resort staff. After multiple broken deadlines and unfulfilled promises, the organization has prepared to file a court petition seeking a formal order for the full sum of owed severance, plus 6.5% annual interest accumulated from the original due date.
“We’re giving the government roughly one more week to show movement on this issue,” Ferguson stated. “If we still see no action by then, we have no choice but to proceed to court.”
The number of employees still waiting for their legally mandated severance remains unconfirmed by the government, but Ferguson described the figure as “substantial”. The dispute dates back months, following the resort’s permanent closure ahead of a major redevelopment deal. According to Ferguson, the union was assured repeatedly that the issue would be resolved quickly. Hope rose earlier this year when government officials sent a formal letter in February signaling their intent to settle the outstanding claims. A subsequent meeting with Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis resulted in an instruction for the union to submit a formal assessment of all owed redundancy payments. The union complied with the request, and workers were formally promised full payment by February 27. Months later, that promise has yet to be fulfilled, and the union has not even received a proposed payment timeline from the administration despite repeated requests.
The ongoing delay has pushed two long-time former employees to the brink of financial ruin. Jerry Davis, a former senior security coordinator at the resort who supports a three-year-old daughter and 84-year-old mother, told local media that securing new stable employment in Grand Bahama has been near-impossible. He is now at risk of defaulting on his home mortgage, and a recent refinancing inquiry revealed he still has three decades of payments remaining. “I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to finish paying this off, and I don’t want to leave my daughter stuck with this debt,” Davis said. Like many other former staff, Davis rejected a preliminary severance offer from the government, arguing the proposed sum was far lower than the amount he is legally owed.
Patsy Hepburn, a 26-year veteran of the resort’s customer service department and a stage four uterine cancer survivor, faces even direr circumstances. She carries thousands of dollars in outstanding medical debt from her ongoing cancer treatment, and her electricity and water utilities have already been disconnected over nonpayment. Royal Bank of Canada has also filed a lawsuit against her over an unpaid personal loan. “Surviving here in Freeport has become nearly impossible,” Hepburn said.
Ferguson drew sharp criticism of the government’s misplaced priorities, pointing to the millions of dollars in public spending allocated for infrastructure upgrades ahead of King Charles III’s upcoming visit to the country. “This is not an unreasonable demand,” he said. “We’re just asking for what these workers earned. If the government can’t pay all the money at once, they can pay part of it. That’s all we ask. How is that too much to ask?”
The Grand Lucayan Resort site was sold as part of a major redevelopment deal signed in May 2025 between the Bahamian government and Florida-based developer Concord Wilshire Capital. The $827 million Heads of Agreement valued the hotel sale at $100 million, with cruise line MSC acquiring a portion of the property for future development. Prime Minister Davis himself has previously publicly questioned why former resort employees and contractors remain unpaid months after the sale closed.
As of press time Thursday, repeated attempts by reporters to reach relevant government officials for comment on the dispute went unanswered.