AN EMERGENCY union meeting is being held today for Government security guards after some of them stopped work briefly yesterday morning at Government Headquarters.

The guards said they were registering their objection to the appointment of Grantley Lashley as a senior security officer.

Lashley was recently at the centre of a dispute with his previous employer, Barbados Port Inc.

That dispute ended with Lashley receiving a financial settlement after Prime Minister Owen Arthur stepped in.

Today's meeting will be with the National Union of Public Works and its president, Walter Maloney, will address the guards.

Yesterday, a senior Government security guard queried how Lashley could be given a senior post.

Explaining why they were upset, another veteran officer said Lashley's post should have been advertised, but it was not.

Roslyn Smith, senior industrial relations officer of the National Union of Public Workers, said: "We are not saying that Lashley could not be hired here, but that there are several positions available."

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence and Security Antoinette Williams said yesterday she was aware some of the security officers had met with their union. *tracymoore@ nationnews.com