Estate police living on 2008 salaries

LAKE Asphalt Estate police officers are calling on the government to prove they really care and bring relief to them as they are struggling to make ends meet as they are still being paid 2008 salaries.

They said the Government cannot use the excuse of having no money since Finance Minister Colm Imbert in his mid-year budget review confirmed that the economy has rebounded and the good times are going to roll.

They also pointed out that government recently signed a US$104 million memorandum of understanding with a Chinese firm for the construction of an industrial estate.

The workers said that the collective agreement for the period 2011 to 2014 is not settled because Government has not signed off on it. Proposals went to the Chief Personnel Officer with Lake Asphalt, being a state enterprise. A Cabinet note was done and sent to the Human Resource Advisory Committee (HRAC) to sign off for the company to proceed to pay.

“We are calling on the Finance Minister to pay some attention to the plight of Lake Asphalt police. We want him to convene a meeting of the HR committee and sign off on our documents. This way we can receive our new rates and get our back pay,” an affected worker said.

The company made a 12 per cent offer which the workers have accepted. About 15 estate police officers are directly affected and they said that four retirees are also affected negatively by the failure to settle these negotiations.

“Apart from security, the company has about 250 permanent and casual workers. More than two years ago they settled their negotiation, received retroactive payments and their new rates. Government is signing off deals with people quite in China, yet 15 workers here are suffering for their just due,” another worker said.

On June 18, government through state enterprise Evolving Technologies and Enterprise Development Company, signed off on a MoU with Chinese mega firm Beijing Construction and Engineering Group (BCEG) for the US$104 million Phoenix Park Industrial Estate.

That deal was one of three major projects negotiated by both governments. The other two include a code-sharing agreement between Air China and Caribbean Airlines and a supply deal between Lake Asphalt and BCEG.