Workers at three KFC branches protest job conditions

The Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) is contemplating bringing out other staff of KFC Barbados in solidarity after workers at three branches protested conditions on Friday.

BWU general secretary Toni Moore was on location at Oistins, Christ Church, where she said workers were initially locked in the building as they sought refuge from excessive heat and a stench.

Workers at Hastings, Christ Church, and Warrens, St Michael were also protesting similar conditions, Moore said, and other BWU officers were deployed at those branches.

She spoke to Section 104 of the Safety and Health at Work Act with workers having the right to refuse work, or to remove themselves from conditions of work that put them and their colleagues in imminent danger.

Moore said when members of the media arrived in Oistins, what they witnessed was the workers being locked inside the building, but were released after the cameras showed up.

She stressed it was not a strike.

Moore said the BWU has also called in the Labour Department as well as the Public Health Department. The excessive heat, which is being felt in the customer area and the kitchen, drove workers to seek refuge on the outside, even in the hot conditions Barbados is experiencing.

She said it was unfortunate was occurring at a time Health and Safety at Work Week was being observed.  (SAT)