President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), Verla De Peiza.
President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), Verla De Peiza, is accusing hotel owners of “heartlessly” abandoning dedicated workers and is demanding an appropriate response from Government to help address their plight.
Saying workers were given the option of including taking up training within the BEST programme if they opted to remain and a fast-tracked severance hearing before the Employment Rights Tribunal if National Insurance Scheme was called upon to pay the severance, she said the reality is that many were finding themselves in between a rock and a hard place.
“Reports are that those who remained are being pressured to accept much lower wages and disadvantageous working conditions, and those who opted for severance in light of the unfavourable terms in the sunset legislation have reached the point where the unemployment benefits have expired and they are left without guidance and no word on their severance,” she said.
Calling the whole matter “distasteful”, she called upon relevant ministries to bring relief to these individuals, many of whom are women and household heads.
“We call on the Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations to give details regarding the promised fast track: Are the tribunals already set up and functioning? What are the time limits for a matter to be heard? What is the time limit for payment? In respect of those who remained in work, what safeguards are there to protect the workers’ right to negotiate their contracts?
“We call on the several Ministers in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment to address the country on the health of the National Insurance Severance Fund in light of the unprecedented numbers who qualify for severance; and to speak positively of the efforts to be expected to recoup the monies from the employers, several of whom receive their funding and capitalisation from outside of Barbados. We call on the Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs to speak up and state what provisions are in place over this holiday season to ensure that families are provided for, especially as children will not have school meals available during the vacation,” the DLP head demanded.
In addition, De Peiza, an attorney-at-law, called on the Prime Minister to “give leadership on these issues to calm the brewing unrest in Barbados”, insisting these could only have negative consequences.