1500 to go home

ABOUT 1500 public servants will be placed on the breadline over the course of the next few weeks.

More than 80 per cent of the persons going home are temporary workers.

This announcement came from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley yesterday as she addressed the nation, providing a wide-ranging update on measures to resuscitate the ailing Barbados economy.

As she spoke about prospective opportunities for those being laid off to make money, Prime Minister Mottley reaffirmed her Government’s commitment to work assiduously to minimise dislocation for those affected.

“I can give the country the assurance that while we do not have an exact number because we are following process, we know that it is unlikely to be more than 1 500 people over the course of the next few weeks. But regrettably, one is too many,” she said, during the televised address.

Prime Minister Mottley, who said that Government worked closely with the Social Partnership during the process, thanked the trade unions in Barbados for putting on the table, measurements necessary to put together packages for the workers going home.

She disclosed that severance type packages will be made available, officers on an individual level will receive vacation pay, and Cabinet has agreed that on the date persons receive notice they must walk home with a cheque.

“Why? None of us would feel good having to go home without knowing where money is coming from, and who is going to help us tomorrow, or to come back next week or next month, and be begging for money. At the very least, if we are going to do this, we have to do it properly,” Prime Minister Mottley said.

“I want to say upfront that we are not talking about thousands of persons.. But what hurts for me layoffs is something completely new, so forgive me if I don’t feel good or do it well, because I believe fundamentally that these are our brothers and sisters, these are mothers and fathers, these are our Barbadian neighbours. And therefore what I have tried to do, is to have the Government use the approach of a scalpel, and not that of an axe that wildly cuts,” she added.

Outlining the dire state on Barbados’ economy, which is now going through a recovery plan being facilitated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prime Minister Mottley said that while central government is looking at modernising document management, there are also opportunities for displaced workers to work with existing local companies, to sell back their services contractually to government from January 2019.

“Government believe you me, has miles and miles of paper that needs to be digitised and cannot just be discarded even as we move to document management systems, and even as we seek to review the work flow Ministry by Ministry, and department by department. Will it be seamless and absolutely perfect? Probably not. I have been around long enough to know that mistakes are made, but what is important is that if mistakes are made, and if they are brought to our attention, that we correct them as soon as possible. We have also agreed that without prejudice to what they are entitled to receive, that those types of opportunities, that they now be given the opportunity to be at the forefront of the digitisation of governments records, and that can start as early in the new year as January,” she said.

Prime Minister Mottley said that with respect to those who will go at the Ministry of Public Works, have the opportunity to be hired by contractors involved in government’s three-year 100 million dollar road programme. She said it is also recognised that construction workers will also be given the opportunity to find employment in major government projects.

“There are some who may choose not to work at all and who may be happy just to go home, and that’s fine. But what we want to do, and believe you me, we are setting up a household mitigation unit where I will have five persons who will interact with those who are being laid off to make sure that there is a minimum standard of living below which no one in this country will fall. I give the commitment of our government on that, and I know that my ministers and the Members of Parliament are with me with respect to this.

“They will therefore be able to work with the private sector, with civil society, with the church in particular, and with government through other contractual arrangements. We have also determined that option form will go to persons, asking persons to indicate what is their passion, what is their wish, would they like to be retrained in a particular area?... We are also going to amend the laws to be able to allow for an affirmative action programme up to 20 per cent of the value of government’s goods and services,” she said.

"We recognise that now is the time for us to make the difficult decisions that will allow our Government to remain fiscally fit to be able to encourage the growth and to ensure that that kind of situation which led ultimately to way over spending can be a thing of the past so that we can go forward confidently, that we can grow this economy and become a country that punches above its weight accordingly. These are the discussions that we have had in the social partnership. And we have agreed to a few principles. That in modernising our government, and in being able to make the difficult decisions that we would do so first and foremost respecting the principle of last in, first out. That we would equally do so with respect to state owned enterprises and government departments. The wishes of the Barbadian people as expressed in the survey and the social partnership, as to what is essential, what is highly desirable, what is optional, what is optional but may be delivered better elsewhere, and in so doing, we have come to some clear agreements as to where we need to go,” she added. (AH)

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