All is not well at the state-owned Gravel & Concrete as workers wait on instructions from the Technical & Allied Workers Union (TAWU) on whether to down tools and take industrial strike action.
Well-placed sources told THE NEW TODAY that the issue of contention at the moment is the dismissal of a worker following an altercation with another colleague in which threats of harm were issued in the encounter.
According to an insider, the majority of workers felt that the fall-out between the two employees did not warrant instant dismissal but a suspension and warning letter.
He said that TAWU was contacted as several workers were calling for immediate strike action in support of their colleague.
He spoke of workers showing up for work on Monday with expectation of getting the greenlight from the union to resort to a shutdown of operations at the company.
TAWU is said to have met with the dismissed worker on Monday and specifically asked him whether he was prepared to accept a sum of money offered as a package for his dismissal or whether he wanted to continue working with the state body.
The source pointed out that the worker opted to get re-instated and the union agreed to seek a meeting with the management of Gravel & Concrete to discuss the situation.
He said that the workers are also unhappy with a claim being made by a top member on the Board that TAWU had agreed at a meeting for the employee to be fired from the job.
The union has reportedly denied adopting any such position.
“No one can say that in our face. Ask anyone in Management (at the Corporation) what is the position of the union when we were at the meeting,” one senior union executive was quoted as saying.
The source also said that the workers have been requesting for some time now and without luck a meeting with Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell under whose portfolio the statutory body falls in order to express their concerns over its running by the present members of the Board of Directors.
He said the workers are unhappy with many of the decisions taken by the Board including the large sums spent on purchasing two trucks to pour concrete and cannot be commissioned three months later.
One worker told THE NEW TODAY that the purchase was “bad” and that there are reports that spare parts cannot be found for the trucks.
He said the management had nothing to do with the purchase of the two trucks and the arrangements were made by two members of the Board of Directors without anyone from the corporation paying a visit to the supplier to inspect the vehicle.
According to one longstanding worker at the state body, “things are bad” at Gravel & Concrete and it is definitely the worst that he has seen it in the past 15 to 20 years.
There are reports that there is a split on the Board with a faction giving support to current Chairman Sylvester Quarless against the others.
The Board of Directors has also complained that since getting their appointment letters about a year ago, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has not even met with them.