Post Office workers still at original location despite promised move to Nugent Avenue and picket yet again to protest deplorable conditions
Post Office workers took to the picket line on Monday, June 3, once again
protesting poor working conditions that many of them believe are making
them ill.
The aggrieved workers congregated outside the lower High and Long Streets
General Post Office building, bearing placards to express their displeasure
with the authorities’ lack of action to seriously address their concerns.
Some of the placards read: “We need a new sewage system – it smells, it’s
killing us” and “Empty promises.”
Shop Steward Aisha Murraine says that, in spite of a notice that went out in
May, advising the relocation of the post office, the staff continue to work at the
original building under appalling conditions.
She tells REAL News correspondent George Wehner that the building is not
healthy and workers should not be operating there.
Murraine says the situation has now reached the point where the workers are
calling for a round-table discussion with the minister of finance, Prime
Minister Gaston Browne, to address the health and safety concerns that have
been plaguing them for years. And, she says, they are not prepared to deal
with anyone else.
Shop Steward Aisha Murraine.
The majority of postal workers, including those from the sub stations, took
part in the industrial action, which Murraine says will continue until they are
afforded a meeting with the prime minister.
The action has the full backing of the workers’ respective unions, the Antigua
and Barbuda Trades & Labour Union and the Antigua and Barbuda Public
Service Association, which is represented by Delma Jules.
In a notice issued in May, the Post Office advised the public that, in order to
facilitate its move to the National Technical Training Centre (NTTC) building
on Nugent Avenue, there would be new operating hours.
During the period May 16 to 28, business hours would run from 8:15 a.m. to 1
p.m., Mondays to Fridays. The Post Office Headquarters would then be closed
to the public from May 28 to June 7, with normal business operations
expected to resume on Monday June 10, the notice said.
However, since it went out, it appears that little or nothing has been done to
facilitate the relocation of staff and their operations.
Meanwhile, the picketing workers also are calling for a salary increase to
bring them in line with the high cost of living in Antigua and Barbuda.
REAL News correspondent George Wehner contributed to this story.
