A high incidence of uncertified sick leave and poor work ethic on commercial jobs are plaguing the National Conservation Commission (NCC), an inside source has told the DAILY NATION.
And this, the source said, was why the proposal from the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU)?for a “last-in, first-out” process to determine retrenchment was deemed unacceptable.
However, this claim has been dismissed by NUPW general secretary Dennis Clarke as “downright rubbish” and an attempt by the NCC to justify its choices.
Clarke said yesterday that of the 60 people the commission had identified during negotiations as having chronic ailments which resulted in excessive sick leave, only ten of those had been sent home, while 55 of the other workers served with retrenchment letters were among the healthiest.
According to the NCC?source who requested anonymity, there were instances where some of the long-standing employees took in excess of 100 sick days off in a year. The individual said this was an untenable situation, but gave no reason as to why it had not been dealt with earlier.