Over 25 CLICO employees sent home

More than 25 irate workers were on Friday released from their jobs, some after more than 20 years of service at St Clair Insurance Services, a Colonial Life Insurance Company Limited (CLICO) affiliate. According to one of the former employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity, “some of us have been working there for a significant part of our lives and to hear that we were sent home just like that to be replaced by UWI graduates with degrees is disheartening. From what I’ve heard they are going to be doing exactly what we have been doing all these years but in some cases for double our salaries.”

CLICO employees are not represented by a workers’ union. The jobless 47-year-old said that she and her co-workers were called into a meeting on Thursday  during which they were told that they would be relieved of their respective positions. On Friday they were all given their severance packages which according to their superiors were compiled according to government laws and regulations. The group of workers included clerical staff, couriers, maintenance staff and others.

Another severed worker added, “I was very dissatisfied with the manner in which the company dealt with us but I was expecting it. Many changes had been taking place within CLICO from the head office and then it reached the outside offices, one of which happened to be ours.” Sunday Newsday contacted CLICO Human Resource Manager, Gwendoline Mc Laren, who said that she was not at liberty to make any comment on the matter and that the Public Relations Department at CLICO would be in a position to give any relevant information. However no one was available at the PR department to offer any explanation for the terminations.