Forced to work 12 hours

SOME PRIVATE family-owned companies are apparently taking advantage of the current economic crisis to force workers into 12-hour days in order to keep their jobs.
And it is not going down well with general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), Senator Sir Roy Trotman.
Speaking in the Senate yesterday during debate on a resolution to raise the limit on the amount Government can raise through issuing treasury bills and tax certificates to $1.75 billion, Sir Roy asked whether in this current economic crisis constituents should be forced to accept the erosion of their rights and entitlements simply because there were hardships facing the economy and the country.
On the one hand, he argued, Barbados must be careful not to price itself out of commission as a country, but at the same time, those people who have shared in the benefits from the sacrifices that labour has made over the years and given the concessions it has made in this crisis, should not now place workers in positions where they turn up for work on Fridays only to be told at four o’clock: “Don’t come back!” (AB)
 
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