The Barefoot Beach Resort has just completed a new wing that includes an additional 150 guest rooms and 40,000 square feet of event space. This brings the total number of guest rooms at the resort to 650 and the event space to 80,000 square feet. The resort has been recruiting and training new staff for three weeks in anticipation of the grand opening celebrating the new facilities. They failed to reach their target number for new hires by a wide margin. In fact they only hired about half of the projected number of staff needed with the new facilities and projected increased guest count through-out the property.

The Barefoot Beach Resort has always faced a challenge in recruiting and hiring personnel because they are located on an Island that is a 51/2 hour flight from the closest continent. The labor pool on the island has always been limited but it has become even tighter in the last 18 months because all the businesses on the island are expanding. There little piece of heaven has been discovered in a big way! The staffing situation has been intensified by a push by mainland unions to unionize the hotel and restaurants on the island.

The Barefoot Beach Resort is a family owned business. The owners believe they deal fairly with their employees. The success of the union in gaining the support and ultimately being established at a number of the corporately owned hotels and restaurants has created a dilemma for the owners. The wages established in the unionized properties are considerably higher than what the Barefoot Beach Resort is currently paying. Additionally, the unionized properties are now providing both paid vacation and paid sick leave. The owners believe that raising wages and providing paid vacation and sick leave will put them out of business. Their existing clientele has proven in the past to be extremely price sensitive. When prices increased in the past there was an immediate decline in business which had to be overcome. The owners fear that the new debt service they have taken on with the expansion coupled with the anticipated decline in existing business if they increase labor cost and therefore prices will put them out of business.

Today preparation for the grand opening began and all staff were informed that they will need to work overtime and will, at times, be assigned to work outside their current job description in order to complete preparations on time because of the shortage of staff. A group of employees met this afternoon with the owners and expressed their dissatisfaction with the work and amount of work they were being asked to complete. Additionally they brought up wages and benefits. It was suggested by the employees that if something did not change there could be a work stoppage in some form, such as a mysteriously localized flu epidemic among the Barefoot Beach Resort staff. After meeting with the owners the group also met with union representatives from other hotels and restaurants to get information about establishing a union at the Barefoot Beach Resort.

 

Case Study Analysis Questions with Answers

 

1. What are the factors that the owners of the Barefoot Beach Resort must consider as they work to resolve the current situation? List a minimum of five.

2. Taking into consideration the factors you listed above what options for action do the owners have to resolve the current situation?

3. Legally what can the owners do to stop the unionization of their property?