No resolution in workers? demand for indemnities

Strike set to continue today

MARIGOT--Collectivit� workers are likely to continue strike action today since no immediate solution was found to their demands for indemnities due to them as agreed in a signed October 4, 2010, protocol when the matter was debated briefly in the Territorial Council meeting Thursday.

Fears that the school's central kitchen (CTOS) would not be operating Thursday were unfounded. Management indicated meals were being prepared as normal "for schools that are open."

CTOS reportedly has a similar grievance with a signed protocol but no further information could be immediately obtained from its president Carenne Mills.

Union representatives from the UCT/UGTG addressed the Council with their grievances during the afternoon session convened to vote on the 2011 budget.

Earlier in the morning a group of Collectivit� workers congregated in the lobby of Hotel de La Collectivit� in anticipation of a meeting between President Gumbs and union representatives.

There was no crowd outside on the streets, only hand written placards attached to the fence outlining the complaints.

Opposition Leader Alain Richardson told the Daily Herald that some workers had benefitted from the financial compensation related to that protocol but apparently it was "not across the board."

"Because of the financial situation the Collectivit� may not be able to live up to its obligation, but the union is sticking to its guns," he said. "When that agreement was enacted it was a substantial amount ...about a million something euro. Only the President can make a decision about it, not the Council. I hope the two parties can find a common ground because a strike at the CTOS level will have serious repercussions in the schools."

UCT/UGTG section leader Nicole White could not be contacted last night for a reaction to the day's developments.

Earlier she said "disrespect" of the protocols concerned both Collectivit� and COS workers.

"Some workers on the budget of the Collectivit� are working for CTOS and CTOS workers on the budget of CTOS are working for the Collectivit�. We are all mixed. There is no distinction between the Collectivit� and CTOS," she said.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/15253-no-resolution-in-workers-demand-for-indemnities.html

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