SSA workers protest ‘supersession’

SEVERAL Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) drivers took their vehicles to be repaired yesterday in apparent industrial action.However, president of the SSA’s National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) committee, Elvis Gill, said it could not be seen as such.“The trucks were carried into the workshop for the garage people to work on as accustomed, so it can’t be a strike,” he said.Despite this, Gill said there was also an “alleged undercurrent of [problems with] supersession and promotions” which might have sparked the drivers all turning in their vehicles at the same time.Floor member of the SSA’s NUPW committee, Stephen Edwards, elaborated.“The workers have staged a slowdown because of issues with supersession and, knowing that the trucks have problems, have decided to do something about it,” he said.He said those issues arose from the appointment of new personnel at the Greenland Landfill hired above “job hands”, people who are paid on a job-by-job basis, who, Edwards said, sometimes “came to work and sat down a whole day”.A call to acting deputy general secretary Roslyn Smith confirmed this.“We have an issue with the SSA’s recruitment policy where they brought in ten new general workers on indefinite employment in December despite having job hands who report for duty on a daily basis and who are supposed to fill in anywhere there is a need.“We asked for a meeting since April and were granted one in July where we sent a strong message to reverse this decision by August 15 or else we will do what we have to do,” she said.As for the problems with the vehicles, Smith said the SSA was supposed to import “one or two” new vehicles every year but this was not happening, which put a strain on the current fleet.Edwards said the vehicular problems ranged from the seats, engines, seat belts, mud flaps and various mechanical problems, which he said really started since the SSA brought in Freightliner vehicles.“Those technical trucks deal with computers, so you have to have technical knowledge to repair them but there is only one man qualified to do this,” he said.Smith said the union was scheduled to meet with SSA management yesterday evening. There was no comment from SSA management up to press time. (CA)