A senior manager at Royalton Negril has been suspended, ostensibly in connection with a worker demonstration at the resort on Monday.

Employees, armed with placards, took to the streets to protest against what they described as poor working conditions.

Their grievances included inadequate food provisions, substandard conditions in the staff canteen, insufficient support from management, low wages — especially for line staff and supervisors — and issues related to contract work arrangements.

In response to the unrest, government officials have stepped in.

On Wednesday, representatives from the Ministry of Tourism met with representatives of Blue Diamond International, the company that operates the Royalton resorts in both Negril and Trelawny. Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett was joined by Senior Advisor Delano Seiveright, Wade Mars, Executive Director of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), and Odette Dyer, Regional Director of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), for discussions at the Negril property.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Pearnel Charles Jnr. and his team are holding separate talks with Blue Diamond International officials at the Royalton property in Trelawny.