Estate constable begs Govt

DEBARRED from engaging in industrial action under the Supplemental Police Act, estate constables employed by Lake Asphalt Limited are pleading with government to expedite their outstanding wage negotiations for the period 2011-2014.

An estate constable, who requested anonymity, said despite having reached an agreement with the company regarding a wage increase, said the negotiations had stalled after being sent to the Inter ministerial committee of parliament.

He said Lake Asphalt has over 300 hourly and weekly rated staff who have all had their collective agreements signed off by government just over two years ago.

“We are still waiting.

We have been waiting 8 years, inflation has totally destroyed our salary. We don’t know when the next meeting is,” the officer said, adding some 15 officers were affected by outstanding negotiations.

“We have been diligently coming to work and doing our jobs, we are not engaged in any industrial action and we cannot take any by law under the Supplemental Police Act but we can’t carry on like this,” he said.