Flavorite workers: We have been abandoned

ANGRY workers of Flavorite Foods Ltd are demanding payment of eight to ten months of salaries allegedly owed to them after being retrenched in June.

Newsday was told that on December 24, about 81 workers of the well-known ice cream company were sent home “temporarily” and told to return to work on January 6. Upon their return, they were told they were to meet with marketing manager Keenan Roper on January 10.

At that meeting, they were told they would be once again sent home, but with three weeks’ pay. The no-pay leave was extended to March 31. On April 1, the 81 staff members were laid-off "temporarily," the reason being financial pressures caused by the covid19 pandemic.

“We are left with no other choice but to temporarily lay-off staff without pay for a period of three months effective Wednesday 1st April to Monday 29th June 2020,” said Flavorite in a letter to staff. The company said there would be no change in the terms of employment during the period.

But when workers arrived at the Flavorite building at Boundary Road, San Juan on April 30, they found themselves locked out.

“We tried calling Roper,” a worker said. “He didn’t answer our calls. We got in contact with Michael La Caille, a board member of the company. He said he will call us back and when he did, he said the company had no information to give us at the time and the company would contact us. To this day we haven’t heard from them.”

Another, who is a single parent and asked that her name not be published, said she worked there for 12 years and could not believe the company would treat its workers the way it did.

“Families were broken up. Employees were evicted. Some are owing bank loans and they cannot pay. Most of us signed up for salary relief but didn’t get it as yet. I am a single parent with a mortgage to pay. I asked them (Flavorite) if they don’t want to pay me my money just give me the money to pay my mortgage.

“My daughter was even accepted into the University of the West Indies, but we had to decline the offer because we don’t have the money to pay the tuition.” The woman said she had to take on domestic work in order to feed her daughter and herself.

“Sometimes they would treat me like a dog and put food for me outside for me to eat, she said of her new employer. And to know where I was before. My basic salary was $7,967 a month plus $30 COLA. To know in these hard times that you have money outstanding is a terrible feeling.”

Another worker, 54-year-old Lawrence Belcon, said the experience was frustrating. He said he had been living like a pauper for the past eight to ten months, begging for handouts, depending on relatives, and even going to the church for alms.

“I live in a board house. It is rat infested and wood lice eating it. When I was working I was fixing it piece by piece. Now I have to borrow money to put a tarpaulin over my roof. I have nothing. Every day I have to scrape. I have a car and I don’t have money to put gas. I just have to sit here and watch it rot.”

Newsday called La Caille on the matter but he said he would be unable to comment. When Newsday contacted Roper on Tuesday last week, he asked that we call him back on Wednesday. When Newsday called at about 2.30 pm on Wednesday, Roper asked that the paper call again in an hour's time. When Newsday called again at 3.30 pm, the call went to voice mail. Newsday has tried repeatedly to get in contact with Roper again but to no avail.