{"id":34963,"date":"2016-02-10T23:05:01","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T23:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=34963"},"modified":"2016-02-10T23:05:01","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T23:05:01","slug":"sugar-bay-lays-off-44-employees-labor-department-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=34963","title":{"rendered":"Sugar Bay Lays Off 44 Employees In Two Months, Labor Department Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. THOMAS — Government House, citing information provided by Department of Labor Commissioner Catherine Hendry, told The Consortium this evening that Sugar Bay Resort and Spa has laid off 44 employees between January and February. It remains unclear if these employees were completely laid off from the resort, or whether their work hours were halved as some employees claim<\/a><\/span>, which could make them eligible to receive financial assistance from the Department of Labor.<\/p>\n

In \u00a0February of last year, Governor Kenneth Mapp made the decision not to renew the resort\u2019s Economic Development Commission benefits \u2014 which offered 100 percent tax free status \u2014 stating during a\u00a0February 2015 press conference<\/a><\/span> that Sugar Bay and Windward Passage had failed to hold\u00a0 their end of the obligations as required by the EDC.<\/p>\n

In explaining his reasoning behind the disapproval of benefits extension, Mr. Mapp said there were \u201ctremendous violations of law\u201d within the applications, and that it\u2019s the government\u2019s job to \u201cpolice\u201d the companies and make sure they are complying with the rules.<\/p>\n

The territory\u2019s leader then made known some of the deficiencies found within the applications of both hotels.<\/p>\n

The governor said both entities were \u201cbelow the number of required employees\u201d that should be working at the facilities as part of the EDC agreement. Mr. Mapp also revealed that one of the hotels had already enjoyed 15 years of EDA benefits, while the other had enjoyed 20 years. Nevertheless, the Economic Development Authority sent the governor an application to grant said hotels an additional 10 years of 100 percent of tax benefits.<\/p>\n

Mr. Mapp continued, revealing that one of the entities hadn\u2019t filed income tax returns for more than five years, and one owed unemployment payments to the Department of Labor. One of the companies intended to invest, according to the governor, \u201ca mere $690,000 over the next ten years,\u201d which, he said, \u201cgiven the hotels and their sizes, one must understand that $690,000 over ten years is not even sufficient monies to maintain the properties; much less monies to expand, develop and provide any expansion of the facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chief executive also made known that the wages at Windward Passage and Sugar Bay were below industry standards, and although the hotels comply with the territory\u2019s \u00a0minimum wage law, \u201cgiven the amount of benefits that you have enjoyed for more than 15 years at 100 percent tax exemption, the wages to the employees are totally unacceptable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But the governor said the actions taken last year were not indicative of a leader who is anti private sector; adding that he and Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter were \u201cfully committed in supporting the incentives given by the Economic Development Authority, but it must be done in a manner that recognizes that everyone must carry some degree of their weight in the territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor then advocated for local businesses that have paid the majority of taxes while major corporations reap their financial rewards with little to no tax deductions; and for residents who are currently burdened with multiple tax obligations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot continue to pile on on small businesses and employees in the territory the full burden of the services and the infrastructure of the territory,\u201d said Mapp. \u201cAnd if an entity has come into the territory, has invested, has built, has been enjoying tax benefits for 10, 15 \u2014 20 years, there must be some avenue to wean that entity off tax exemptions. The businesses cannot remain on the bottle forever. They must have some opportunity to wean off of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. THOMAS — Government House, citing information provided by Department of Labor Commissioner Catherine Hendry, told The Consortium this evening that Sugar Bay Resort and Spa has laid off 44 employees between January and February. It remains unclear if these employees were completely laid off from the resort, or whether their work hours were halved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[228,3,11,2474,147],"tags":[786,70,4515],"yoast_head":"\nSugar Bay Lays Off 44 Employees In Two Months, Labor Department Says - V.I. 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I've been the Editor-In-Chief at my videogames website, Gamesthirst, for over 5 years, writing over 7,000 articles and more than 2 million words. I'm also very passionate about where I live, the United States Virgin Islands, and I'm intent on making it a better place by being resourceful and keeping our leaders honest. VI Consortium was birthed out of said desire, hopefully my efforts bear fruit. Reach me at ernice@viconsortium.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/ernicegilbert.com\/\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sugar Bay Lays Off 44 Employees In Two Months, Labor Department Says - V.I. 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