General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union and co-chair of the BERT Monitoring Committee, Senator Toni Mooresays the rationalisation and layoffs under the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) Programme will continue well into April.
Co-chair and chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association Edward Clarke also reports that most of the layoffs in the private sector were in the construction industry which had been hard hit in the last six months of 2018.
Both Moore and Clarke were speaking as the BERT Monitoring Committee, which was responsible for scrutinising Government’s progress in reaching the targets agreed to with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), debuted the contents of its first quarter report at a press briefing at Sagicor in Wildey this morning.
The committee is made up of representatives from the private sector and labour.
Senator Moore revealed that about 953 people had been laid off from state-owned enterprises and from central government in the latter part of last year.
The process was continuing, she said, with the rationalisation of the Rural Development Commission and the Urban Development Commission, while negotiations are still underway as government sought to amalgamate the Barbados Tourism Product Authority and the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.
“The process of retrenchment is expected to continue well into April,” Senator Moore explained. (HLE)
