THE NATIONAL UNION of Public Workers (NUPW) wants Government to speak to when library workers will be moved to their new headquarters.

General secretary of the union, Dennis Clarke, told the SATURDAY SUN on Thursday the NUPW was giving relevant ministries until next Friday "to say or do something" about the move.

Conditions

He said the workers were prepared to take action because they were fed up with their present working conditions.

"The library staff met [Thursday] to discuss the current situation with respect to the movement of staff into the new temporary headquarters at Independence Square, The City," he said.

Slight crack

"To date, the workers and the union are in the dark as to what is going on.

"We understand that there were concerns [over] a slight crack which showed up in the building but nothing has been done about the matter.

"Since January 2006, the workers were promised that they would have been moved into that retrofitted building by March 2006 – it is almost March 2008.

"We're giving the Ministry of Housing, the Prime Minister's Office, the Library Service management until Friday next week to do something about the matter," Clarke added.

The union boss declined to state what action workers were prepared to take over "the long delay in correcting the situation".

Efforts to reach the permanent secretary in the Prime Minister's Office for comment were futile.

Further delay

Previous re-opening dates have come and gone.

Back in October, Director of the Library Service Annette Smith said the further delay of the opening came after Government was investigating cracks in the old ShopSmart building that would house the library, as authorities wanted to be "absolutely sure" it was safe.

New bathrooms and offices were constructed, the walls were painted and electrical cable reinstalled throughout the three-storey building. Facilities for the physically challenged were also included. (DS)