EMPLOYEES?of the National Employment Bureau yesterday gave the thumbsdown to the location at the Warrens Office Complex to which they were to be temporarily transferred.
Some of the angry employees told the WEEKEND?NATION?yesterday that the conference room that was being transformed into an office for them was simply too small to accommodate the 21 employees.
“When we examined the space which they were giving us, we decided that there was no way that we could work in that small room, even though it was supposed to be temporary.
“There is no privacy; no place to put our belongings, and we interview at least 50 people a day. It was not acceptable working conditions,” charged an employee.
The worker pointed out that the staff left the Warrens Complex yesterday morning following a meeting with Assistant Chief Labour Officer Claudette Greenidge and Deputy Chief Labour Officer Victor Felix.
“The staff left after they were informed that management would not be able to speak to [Minister of Labour] Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo until Monday.
There was no place to accommodate us, so we left,” said the staff member, who explained that a suggestion was also made to house them in an unused cafeteria at the Warrens Complex.
When contacted, Chief Labour Officer Vincent Burnett explained that authorities had been “trying to see how best we could fit the workers into the space which we had found for them at Warrens Complex”.
“We have come up with a number of things but they have not seemed to work.
We are still in the process of trying to find accommodation for the workers,” he stated.
He also admitted that the situation was indeed affecting the bureau’s clientele since they had not been operating “at full steam”.
The staff at the bureau walked off the job at the Labour Department’s office at the old National Insurance Scheme Building at Fairchild Street last month complaining about poor air and water quality.
They were supposed to be relocated temporarily to the Warrens Office Complex. (MB)
