The layoffs have started and so has confusion. While some workers received their walking papers on Friday, many others were unsure of their employment status as they were only terminated by word of mouth.
The messy situation has prompted outspoken trade unionist Caswell Franklyn to advise some of them to continue to turn up for work. Some of those disgruntled civil servants are also ready to take their concerns to the Public Service Commission (PSC) on Monday, while the Acting Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers, Wayne Walrond is calling the exercise “a rush job”.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme kicked into high gear yesterday via a memo from Head of the Civil Service Dr Louis Woodroffe to all Permanent Secretaries, authorising the termination of several departmental posts.
An anonymous worker from the School Meals Department, one of the affected departments, contacted the Nation and explained nearly 40 school meals assistants were verbally terminated following an afternoon meeting with management.
“They explained to us that as of today, we were no longer employed by School Meals. They read out this thing about the packages, what years you had and what you were going to get,” the worker said. (AC/AD)
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