IAL workers fired?

TERMINATION of employment letters were reportedly issued yesterday morning to 64 workers of the Guapo based IAL Engineering Services Limited — four days after over 100 workers from the local engineering company staged a placard protest in San Fernando calling for better wages and working conditions. Checks with IAL management yesterday revealed that General Manager Blane De Freitas was in a meeting and Graham Dow, Finance and Administration Manager refused to confirm or deny the workers’ claim of dismissal, saying only that a release from the company would be issued to the media sometime today.

Speaking with Newsday yesterday at Lady Hailes, San Fernando, vice president of the Contractors and General Workers Trade Union (CGWTU) Joseph Phillip said he had in his possession 64 termination letters, which were sent around 10.30 am via courier  and TTPOST. “The actions made by the company is a piece of dictatorship,” Phillip charged. He said last Tuesday workers were locked out of the compound following a meeting between the workers and their union representative. “We kept a meeting with company officials on Tuesday, after which, the union representative who was on the jobsite at Guapo held a meeting with the workers to inform them of what transpired in that particular meeting which lasted over one hour. Afterwards, the workers headed to their respective departments to work, but they were turned away by company officials at Guapo,” Phillip said. “The company officials said they got instructions from ‘high above’ that if the workers came to work at 8 o’clock, not to let them perform their duties,” he claimed. Phillip said the termination letters issued by the company were unfair and he said a claim by the company that workers had withheld their labour was not true.

Phillip said the workers planned not to take the actions made against them lightly and are hoping their questions can be answered by the Labour Minister and failing that, they may seek redress in the Industrial Court. Phillip said workers were willing to go back to work and they wanted the company to revoke the termination letters. He is also calling for “meaningful” dialogue between workers and management over working conditions and salary packages.