Today is the last day of work for nearly 40 auxillary postal workers and clerical staffers employed with the Barbados Postal Service.
Yesterday, these men and women who are attached to the various post offices, were summoned to a 2 p.m. meeting in the conference room at the General Post Office on Cheapside, The City, where the department’s hierarchy dropped the bombshell.
Hours earlier in an emergency meeting called by the top brass of the Royal Barbados Police Force and attended by officers from station sergeants upwards, it was announced that “with immediate effect” all extra duty will no longer be paid for, among other stringent measures, as the force’s budget had been cut by 10 per cent.
Both events are a consequence of Government’s action to effectively slash their spending to plug a gaping $400 million-plus deficit.
At the police meeting at District ‘A’, which was chaired by Acting Commissioner Tyrone Griffith accompanied by Acting Assistant Commissioners Mark Thompson and Irwin Boyce, Assistant Commissioner Oral Williams in charge of administrative matters reportedly read a memo from the Ministry of Finance which imposed the cut on police operational costs. Chops must be made on gasoline consumption, overtime, flexitime, stationery, water and electricity usage.
