Vendor has ‘bone to pick’

FISH VENDOR YVETTA MCCLEAN says she is fed up with treatment she is getting in the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex. (Basil Griffith)

Sat, January 21, 2012 - 8:00 AM

YVETTA MCCLEAN, a fish vendor in the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex, said she was fed up with the treatment she was getting from her colleagues and the management at that facility, especially over the past three months.

Noting that the situation was getting worse, McClean told the SATURDAY SUN that she had been the victim of harassment and was no longer able to ply her trade in peace.

When the complex was refurbished late last year, fisherfolk were no longer allowed to clean smaller fish in the stalls. They were all required to do so in the scaling rooms while those with bigger fish were allowed to use stall No. 6 to clean their fish.

However, McClean said she did not want to clean her flying fish in the rooms provided because the floors were too slippery and she feared falling due to an injured leg. She said a letter from her doctor was sent to the Ministry of Agriculture requesting that she do her scaling and boning in the stall (stall #6) instead of the “water-logged and slippery” scaling room.

But some of the vendors there say she was “a troublemaker”, while manager of the market, Keith Henry, said he would not tolerate McClean or anyone else cleaning or boning flying fish from the stalls as that could result in a downgrading of the facility by inspectors.

He further noted that McClean was “defiant”.

“They bring the police for me [on Tuesday] and harassed me in this public market. I cannot ply my trade in peace. But, they [manager and supervisors] will see other vendors scaling flying fish in the stalls and not going in the scaling room that was assigned for them to go [and not do anything] . . . but [Mr Henry] come and give me problem when he knows I have a problem with my leg and he has a letter from me that he and other supervisors read,” argued McClean.

With tears in her eyes, the vendor of over 20 years said: “[On Wednesday] I bought my fish and I have not even started to work yet for the day . . . . The season started and it affecting me because I have people who want fish from me and I can’t supply them. This is my livelihood.

However, Henry said that if McClean was not able to go in the scaling room she had an option of getting someone to clean and bone the fish for her. But McClean said she could not afford to do that.

Denying reports that people slip and fall in the scaling room on a daily basis, Henry argued that if he allowed McClean to clean her fish in the stalls instead of the rooms provided to do so, other vendors would follow suit and that could result in the “standards and quality” at the market being compromised.

“We have a group here from the European Union (EU) checking on the quality for the export of fish to the European market, which will bring in foreign exchange.

“We can only do that if our standards and quality are up to scratch but if we continue as we used to [before the refurbishment of the market] then we will not be able to . . . . We will no longer be allowed to export fish when the inspectors come around and see that happening,” he stated. (MM)

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Posted by Doreen Stoute 3 months, 3 weeks ago: Is there no procedure in place to ensure the safety of vendors? If this woman has a letter from her doctor certifying an injury, why can’t an exception be made for her? If an exception cannot be made, and I don’t see why it can’t, it seems to me that the onus is on the management of the facility to ensure that everyone is safe as they conduct their business. If this “scaling room” is prone to water accumulation, then surely some form of rubber matting (as I’ve seen in wet working environments) can be installed. What if someone should fall in the scaling room and sustain an injury? Whose fault is it? This is not a hard problem. Ultimately, management has to ensure that vendors are provided a safe working environment.