|
Close
to one hundred workers attached to the organic banana project at the River
Antoine Estate were sent home indefinitely, by management last Friday.
The decision to send home the workers came
after RDF Enterprises was reported to have experienced a short fall in
their financial resources.
The employees who lost their jobs are said to be directly involved in the
deflowering, cutlassing and preparation of organic bananas for sale.
 Grenada decided to get involved in the production of organic bananas as a
result of a campaign launched by the Windward Islands Banana Development
Exporting Company (WIBDECO) in June 2001.
The company is hoping to develop an organic product industry in the
Windward Islands.
This project involves the Grenada Banana Co-operative Society
(GBCS),
Ministry of Agriculture, the WIBDECO and Sainsbury, the largest supermarket
chain in the United Kingdom.
The money for the Project was guaranteed last year by the Grenada
government from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to the tune of three
million, five hundred and thirty one thousand, nine hundred and seventy dollars
($3,531,970).
However, the bargaining agent for the workers,
the Grenada Manual Maritime & Intellectual Workers Union (GMMIWU) is
threatening to march in St. George's on February 10th if the issue of payment
was not dealt with by today (Thursday).
President
General o the GMMIWU Bert La Touche
told Grenada Today on Monday, that
the workers were sent home last Friday without their fortnightly wages.
He
is also accusing the owners of RDF Enterprises of breaching the contractual
arrangement the Union has with the Estate as it relates to the termination of
employment.
It
states that in the event of temporary job lost the union will be notified in
advance.
La.
Touche spoke of receiving the letter of dismissal on January 31st the same day
the workers were sent home.
It
was signed by Christellle Thomas for Dunstan Campbell and addressed to the
union.
The
correspondence noted that the decision to send home the workers was based on
financial difficulties.
"Please
be informed that due to financial shortfall we have to send home the banana
project fortnightly workers for one week in the first instance beginning
February 3rd 2003" it said in part.
La.
Touche told our news desk in an exclusive interview that they will march to the
NIS building this Monday since they
are the main financier for the project.
"What
we would like them to tell us is where did this money go" the GMMIWU
President General pointed out.
He
accused several persons of benefiting financially from the project and alleged
that there has been corruption, squandamania, mismanagement and kickbacks which
has caused a cash flow problem.
La.
Touche believes that another reason the workers were sent home is because they
were entitled to another salary increase which management does not want to
honour.
The
union leader also charged that the company has been replacing some workers at
the nursery with contractual labour and have being paying them more money than
those represented by the union.
According
to the GMMIWU president general this is another breach of their contractual
agreement since any worker taken in on contract is automatically entitled to
representation from the union.
He
said that the company had never warned the workers about experiencing financial
difficulties and so the reason for their behaviour is because they want to bust
the union.
The
workers who were present spoke of not being able to meet their financial
obligations to lending institutions and credit houses last Friday.
They
have also denied bananas were shipped to Sainsbury in England on January 27th as
was announced by officials of RDF Enterprises.
The
workers claimed that they had only prepared bananas for the local market.
GMMIWU
is planning to write to their affiliates in the Grenada Trades Union Council (GTUC) to apprise them of the situation and to seek solidarity on the
issue.
Efforts
to reach officials of RDF Enterprises on Tuesday proved futile.
|
