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15th November 2012
WASCO EMPLOYEES SIT-OUT
Stan Bishop

Yesterday marked the third consecutive day of the sit-out staged by employees of the Water and Sewerage Company Inc. (WASCO). And that situation is likely to get worse should discussions between the relevant authorities do not arrive at an amicable solution.

The employees began their sit-out last Monday morning stemming from the failure by WASCO management to provide a definite date for payment of retroactive pay to employees for the period 2010 through 2012.

According to shop steward and employee, Fred Alcindor, those payments were agreed upon within the past few months but no timeframe for the payments has since been communicated to employees by WASCO’s management.

“They said they had to take (the matter) to Cabinet, then Cabinet would decide where they will source the funds and then they would tell us what date they’ll be paying us,” Alcindor told The VOICE when we visited the main WASCO branch in Sans Soucis yesterday morning. “But they told us in a letter from management to the union that before the year ends we would hopefully be getting paid. But the workers are basically tired of getting letters and seeing no positive results. So they decided to down their tools and sit-out and hopefully the authorities will hear their frustrations and come to some understanding and agreement.”

The VOICE was told that a closed meeting was scheduled for 11:30 am yesterday between the relevant parties to bring some closure to the matter.
 
 

Alcindor told The VOICE that hundreds of WASCO staff throughout the island were participating in the sit-out. However, the WASCO offices remained open to customers wishing to pay their utility bills.

The shop steward also indicated that workers were promised a response from the relevant authorities by yesterday afternoon.

Last Monday, WASCO’s Managing Director, John Joseph, indicated that while he could not give a definite date as to when the employees would be paid, the island’s main water supplier remains hopeful that the matter gets cleared up by the end of this year.

Joseph added that the company is presently cash-strapped and that two key components needed to be considered in ensuring WASCO’s viability: a review of the company’s current rates and additional investment in the company.

Meanwhile, Tyrone Maynard, president of the National Workers Union that represents the employees, explained on Monday that the union was working assiduously towards bringing closure to the outstanding matter. Apart from the retroactive pay matter, Maynard said the union and the WASCO employees are yet to be told when the new wage rates for employees will be implemented. Those new rates, he added, were agreed upon by the NWU, WASCO management and the Civil Service Association (CSA).

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