20th Feburary 2010
Winera in Jeopardy?

The VOICE was made recipient of the following letter, sent to the Prime Minister regarding a situation that threatens to arise following some Winfresh/WINERA discussions
Dear Prime Minister:
We are reliably informed that Dr. Errol Reid, a management official of Winfresh, has held discussions with representatives of Windward Islands Packaging Company (WINERA). We further understand that during the meeting Winfresh management made it abundantly clear that it was not prepared to continue buying boxes from WINERA Ltd at the existing price. Winfresh also said that the company was in the process of restructuring and it could import cardboard boxes from the United Kingdom at a much cheaper price in comparison to that of WINERA Ltd.
Prime Minister, over the years many attempts have been made to destroy WINERA Ltd. Fortunately, we have had Prime Ministers of Grenada, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Lucia demonstrating their determination to protect the company which is a joint economic venture of the Windward Islands.
At one stage Winera Ltd employed over one hundred and fifty workers. It consistently ran a two shift operation, packed with overtime ranging from time and one half to double time and paid out over 2.5 million dollars to its staff in Past Years of Service gratuity. Most of the workers purchased land, mini vans, built houses, and did fixed deposits. Therefore we cannot ignore the significant contribution that Winera Ltd is making towards the social and economic well being of the southern region.
We must be careful that we do not make decisions that would continue to provide better living standards for overseas workers, while Britain and the rest of Europe are quietly beginning to roll out policies that border on nationalism and the protection of its workers.