Construction workers deserve raise

THE EDITOR: The person(s) responsible for the series of advertisements against the Atlantic LNG workers should come out of the closet. Or is it that they are so ashamed of their hypocrisy that they refuse to be associated with it? The recent ad demonstrating the computation of wages for the workers is an example of the hypocrisy-the figures just do not add up. A simple mathematical computation would show that the figures are deliberately inaccurate to present a distorted figure.

The thing is, however, not whether they are accurate or not, but whether it is fair to try to prevent workers from getting the best terms and conditions of employment that they can, and from using the only weapon, their labour, that they have in this enterprise. Construction work is by its very nature is short term — one to two years at most. Workers must survive as best they can between projects and that means earning as much as you can on your present project to tide you over until the next. Also construction workers work long hours and therefore the pay figures are distorted by the number of hours workers earn every cent of their money.

There can be no slacking-off or skylarking on a construction site. One mistake could mean death or serious injury. To infer that construction workers are overpaid compared to other workers is dishonest and neglects to take into consideration the limited duration of projects, the periods of no income between projects, the length of the work week, the intensity of the workload and the dangers to which they are exposed. They deserve every cent for which they are asking.

KARAN MAHABIRSINGH
Carapichaima