Children’s centre staff walk out amid ‘dangerous’ incidents

Staff at a facility for children with neurodevelopmental disorders walked off the job on Tuesday, citing security concerns and longstanding operational grievances.

The Sunrise Early Simulation Centre at Perry Gap, Roebuck Street, which caters for children aged two to 11, found itself amid industrial action as employees represented by the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) took protest action.

“This was mainly due to an incident which culminated yesterday [Monday] in a series of unfortunate events,” explained Dwaine Paul, the BWU’s deputy general secretary, adding that staff had been “put in a situation where they feared for their own safety as well as the safety of the students”.

“It is unfortunate and regrettable that the situation that occurred yesterday morning was not handled in a way that was befitting of the staff as well as the children that attend here. I wouldn’t give you details at this point because we are still discussing it with management … but I will say that it was a very dangerous situation.”

Terrence Howell, a trustee and secretary-treasurer at the centre indicated that the issue had to do with a break-in, which he said was not the first incident of its kind.

Paul also confirmed this was not an isolated case but rather the latest in a series of unresolved issues that had been simmering for some time.

The union official declared that staff were deeply dismayed at having to take strike action at a facility caring for “the nation’s children with the most special circumstances”.

With 64 students, some with physical and sensory impairments, the Sunrise centre provides specialised teaching for children with a range of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism.

“The work that is done by the staff here is not similar to work done by any other institution. These professionals behind us, it is killing them to be off the job. But they had no choice but to withdraw their services to have this matter ventilated in the best interest of themselves and their students,” Paul said.

He reported that there were also issues around “the relationship between management and staff” and “the treatment of staff … from an operational standpoint”.

The BWU deputy general secretary criticised what he saw as an “external focus on the external customer” at the expense of adequate support for employees.

“We have to make sure that we are looking after the staff that provide service and we count on for things,” he insisted. “The employees that serve the institution are just as important as the customers that come to the institution, whether those customers are students, children or adults.”

Howell said the centre had experienced repeated break-ins and vandalism, despite having security cameras installed.

“It’s mainly children who live in the area. And so, they jump the fence … they break things, mash up things and so on and so forth,” he said. “And then to call the police and wait for hours for the police to come to do an investigation is a bit strenuous. It’s happened on more than one occasion.”

Howell said a knife had been found on the premises, which was the first time a weapon had been discovered, though he suspected it might have been dropped rather than used to attack anyone.

He said the centre had suffered “physical destruction to the plant” with “windows broken, doors broken” and a storage hut for tools being ransacked and the tools either stolen, destroyed or scattered.

Howell acknowledged that recruiting security for the school would stretch the resources of the board, but added “it’s not something that we’re not considering”.

Terrence Howell, a trustee and secretary-treasurer at the Sunrise Early Simulation Centre. (HG)

The union and management are now engaged in talks to find a “workable solution”, with Howell expressing confidence that “work will resume and that we will work together to resolve these issues”.

While indicating that there had been an “interim solution”, Paul said he hoped the discussions with management would lead to “full resolution” of staff grievances, including improving security provisions.

“We’ve been able to reach what I consider a workable position going forward. But that will be dependent in terms of full resolution on the next steps coming, which involves the senior management of the institution and consultation with their principals,” he said.

“The management has to return to its board to be able to get permission to go ahead with the wider plan necessary to be able to bring full resolution to the concerns raised by staff.”

Howell echoed the union’s stance, saying: “Our commitment to [the students’] safety and education is unwavering.”