THE Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) is satisfied that operational changes at the state-owned Barbados Water Authority (BWA) would not lead to workers being sent home.
Following Tuesday’s Annual General Meeting of the BWA Workers Division, at Solidarity House, General Secretary of the BWU, Toni Moore, said the Union has been having talks with BWA’s management regarding the changes, to ensure that there are no job losses.
Moore said the Authority has been implementing several technological changes to enhance the efficiency of the company’s operations.
However, the General Secretary warned that though the BWU is in favour of the changes to enhance the company’s overall service, it must not be done in a manner that displaces individuals who can be trained where they are not at the point competent to apply the changes.
“We are now at a point where we are satisfied that those changes which will bring certain efficiency to the Authority and hopefully the benefits of which will be experienced by our public as well…
“We are satisfied that those changes now can be implemented and that is something that we have discussed and agreed with the management as recent as yesterday when we met,” she said.
Moore said the point of the almost three-hour meeting was about getting a mandate from members regarding a number of issues, especially as it relates to outstanding backpay.
“Given that we are fairly close to agreement in a number of areas, we felt that before we go to the final step of shaking hands on certain things that we should come back to our membership to ensure that we are all on the same page.
“The Water Authority remains a committed division to their own interest and with this group, it is always important to make sure that we are kept connected to ensure that we are representing their issues in the best way,” she said. (AH)