Daily paid Caroni workers get VSEP cheques

There was a general mood of bewilderment yesterday at the Usine Ste Madeleine sugar factory as approximately 1,000 daily paid workers received Voluntary Separation of Employment  Package (VSEP) cheques. Some complained that the sum of money they received was a “robbery” and they were still being owed. Some of the workers at that factory told Newsday that they were waiting for the payments since ten o’clock in the morning  but were told that the cheques would arrive at midday. The cheques they said never reached until 2 pm. Even as they finally received the cheques there was no celebration. Many arrived on the Usine Ste Madeleine compound in a subdued mood to collect their cheques, chatting with one another about the uncertain future they faced.

Some even voiced their dissatisfaction to Newsday about the amount they received in the cheques. One man who worked as a palletizer for eight years displayed a cheque worth $16,300, another who worked the similar job for 13 years showed a cheque for  $32,000. One scale attendant who was employed for 23 years said he received a cheque valued at $110,000. He claimed that he knew of one security guard who worked for some 24 years and received over $ 200,000. As one former employee left the compound with his envelope folded in his pocket he shouted , “Caroni rob all de daily paid and dem.” He declined to say how much he received.Up to four pm yesterday some of the staff workers at the Usine compound said they were yet to receive any final word on the date of their payments. They added that the Ag Factory Manager Ayoub Ali was scheduled to collect their cheques at Brechin Castle earlier in the day but he said they were not yet available.

Ag CEO of Caroni Chandra Bobart said that due to “technical glitches in the system” the cheques of the daily paid workers would not have been made ready by the Information Service Department until about eight o’clock last night. He added that since it would not be wise to pay them at this hour the staff workers would receive their cheques today. As to the complaints by the daily paid workers Bobart said “genuine queries and concerns” would be dealt with by certain individuals assigned to the various Section Offices. He added that “a total breakdown of all the deductions” was outlined in the cheques. Earlier in the day while speaking to Newsday President General of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union(ATSGWTU), Rudranath Indarsingh, promised that, “All hell would break loose” if daily paid workers were not paid by Monday. However, after most of the payments had been made he could not be reached for comment.