Home » Posts » $500 ‘berry’

$500 ‘berry’

by Barbados Today
4 min read
A+A-
Reset

Hundreds of Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) workers will have good reason to celebrate this Christmas with a share of just over $300 000 from Government.

However, outspoken trade unionist and former Opposition senator Caswell Franklyn has described the payment as an attempt by Government to get SSA workers to stay with the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) with whom it is “more comfortable”.

Chairman of the SSA Ramon Alleyne disclosed today that 601 SSA employees will be given $500 each from the Pandemic Levy Fund during the Government’s COVID-19 Humanitarian Awards Ceremony for frontline workers who were not included in the first event last year.

Chairman of the SSA Ramon Alleyne

Alleyne said the workers who had complained of being left out on the previous occasion, will have their requests fulfilled when the awards are handed out at Kensington Oval on Sunday, November 20.

SSA Public Relations Officer (PRO) Carl “Alf” Padmore also welcomed the inclusion of the sanitation workers who he said went beyond the call of duty to keep Barbados clean and environmentally friendly through the challenging pandemic period and up to the volcanic ashfall.

“You cannot have health without the Sanitation Service Authority workers. We thank the Prime Minister for keeping her promise to allow the sanitation workers to share in the pandemic levy which will be distributed between this week and next week to staff who worked during the pandemic and up to the ashfall,” Padmore said in an interview with Barbados TODAY on Monday.

He said commendations must go to the frontline workers that sweep the streets, work on the garbage trucks, the landfill and the soil technicians in the public cemeteries.

The Pandemic Levy was announced in March this year by Prime Minister Mia Mottley who revealed that Barbadians earning more than $6 250 per month and businesses that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic largely unscathed would have to contribute to the $1 billion bill for Government’s COVID-19 fight.

Mottley said the “one-off” payments, which are expected to raise a total of $120 million, would be taken as a pandemic contribution levy of one percent of an individual’s income every month for a year, while businesses in the telecommunications, commercial banking and general and life insurance sectors, and the retail of petroleum products, would pay 15 percent of their net income over an eight-month period.

Meanwhile, Padmore took the opportunity to assure those employees who have been demanding increases in hazard and other allowances that they are near at hand. The NUPW has been in discussions with the SSA over working conditions which saw workers walk off their jobs last month, with many venting their frustration over the level of representation. Some withdrew their membership of the NUPW.

Addressing the status of those workers who left the NUPW and joined Franklyn’s Unity Workers Union (UWU), Padmore said the SSA respected all trade unions. He added management was awaiting correspondence from Franklyn to determine its recognition on behalf of those employees.

“We await correspondence from Caswell stating how many workers are with the UWU and an update from the NUPW to see who has the majority of workers. I would also say that the separation has not affected the operations of the SSA,” he pointed out.

Responding to this development tonight, Franklyn said the decision to make the payment to the workers may be as a result of political interference from the Government in an effort for the workers to stay with the NUPW.

Franklyn insisted that the SSA workers have been dealing with unresolved issues for many years and noted “they are only now trying to address them because a new player is on the block that they cannot control.

“This is a political move. They [Government] want the people who they are comfortable with; they are not comfortable with me and I am grateful for that. I am very happy that they are not comfortable with me. I would hate to know that I have the reputation that the Government likes me and they want to negotiate with me. When I am negotiating with people, I want the people to respect me,” Franklyn said.

The trade unionist added: “NUPW is boasting that they have gotten an agreement from the SSA board. But you don’t need an agreement from the board because the board can’t agree to those proposals. The board is not responsible for conditions of service as a statutory board that depends on the government for its finances that is still done by the Ministry of Public Service. So saying how the board has agreed, does not mean anything”. (EJ/AH)

You may also like

About Us

Barbados Today logos white-14

The (Barbados) Today Inc. is a privately owned, dynamic and innovative Media Production Company.

Useful Links

Get Our News

Newsletter

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

Barbados Today logos white-14

The (Barbados) Today Inc. is a privately owned, dynamic and innovative Media Production Company.

BT Lifestyle

Newsletter

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Accept Privacy Policy

-
00:00
00:00
Update Required Flash plugin
-
00:00
00:00