Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) General Secretary, Toni Moore, speaking to the media after a meeting with workers of the Barbados Water Authority yesterday morning.
Staff at the Barbados Water Authority gathered to hear the outcome of last Thursday’s meeting.

Deal reached

BWA workers could receive money by end of April

 

Staff at the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) could be receiving the money owed to them by the end of April.
 
“The workers at the Water Authority are happy,” Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) General Secretary, Toni Moore, told reporters after a meeting yesterday with BWA employees to inform them of the outcome of last Thursday’s meeting between the Union and management of BWA at Government Headquarters.
 
“They are happy that finally this matter is put to close. I would also say to you that it is a kind of bitter-sweet feeling because whilst they are happy, they are still feeling somewhat bruised from the fact that they had to go through so much, for so long, for a matter that was not as complex as had been put to the public, to be brought to close.”
 
Moore revealed that the position reached at the meeting, was one the Union had put to BWA since December, 2015.
 
She explained: “It would mean therefore that the Board and Management of the Water Authority had at least three months within which they could study our proposal and see how they could respond to it. But for the better part of that three months, the Authority refused to give serious consideration to our proposal. 
 
“But on Thursday evening, after a number of variations being put by them on the table, we were able to get agreement along the exact lines that we had proposed in an unofficial way in our meeting on the 23rd December”.
 
While not giving the exact amount of money to be disbursed to workers, Moore however said that it will now have to be done through a ‘supplemental’; going through the usual channels including Parliament which is on recess until April 19th.
 
“I believe therefore that the ground work will be prepared so that when Parliament gets back into session it will just be a matter of approving. So we are very hopeful that by the end of the month we can have payments being disbursed to the workers of the Authority,” she said.
 
“We were sent a number of calculations over the weekend and my office will review and verify them, and then later today (yesterday) we expect to hear from the Minister of Labour in regards to the exact time frames that are being contemplated…We are satisfied that there is an expressed commitment on all sides to make sure that those details are worked as quickly and smoothly as possible”.
 
President of the Barbados Workers’ Union Division at the BWA, Carl Boyce took the opportunity to thank the public for supporting the workers.
 
“We are happy to get back to work. The workers are always willing to work and we are going to be improving our service delivery to the public.”
 
(TL)
 
 
 
 

Barbados Advocate

Mailing Address:
Advocate Publishers (2000) Inc
Fontabelle, St. Michael, Barbados

Phone: (246) 467-2000
Fax: (246) 434-2020 / (246) 434-1000