Before the week is out, close to 25 000 Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) members will be involved in a general strike, in protest against giant telecommunications company, LIME (Cable & Wireless).
After a three-hour meeting with the company’s union division and the union’s executive council, BWU General Secretary Sir Roy Trotman announced at 8:10 last night that plans were in place for a general strike and work stoppage across the BWU’s membership.
“I will not be able to tell you the date on which this stoppage is taking place; that remains a matter which we shall be dealing with. But I wish you to know that it will not take another week, and we are planning for before the general strike and for after the general strike. We’re planning for the long haul,” Sir Roy told the DAILY NATION in the boardroom of Solidarity House.
Reiterating that LIME had, without warning, refused to further discuss the issue in the midst of negotiations and had chosen “to chase home 97 people instead”, Sir Roy implied there was little likelihood of returning to the bargaining table.
