“Arwe want arwe money!” That was the demand from protesting Public Works employees, via their shop steward, this morning, July 28, and also the condition under which they said they would return to work.
Furthering a protest that began exactly two weeks ago, on July 14, the disgruntled employees took their protest from the Ministry of Public Works on St. John’s Street up to the Prime Minister’s Office on Queen Elizabeth Highway, forcing Minister of Finance Gaston Browne to come out and engage with them – with some profanity, allegedly about the permanent secretary of Works, captured on video.
The established employees claim they are owed overtime pay for 12 years – from 2014 to present – and, three months after their pre-election hire, scores of young workers allege they are yet to receive their pay.
Ironically, while the first protest was underway, Prime Minister Browne had told Barbuda MP Trevor Walker that he was unaware of the industrial action – which related directly to the Ministry headed by his wife, MP Maria Browne.
Interestingly, Minister Browne, herself, was absent from that sitting of the House (reportedly for the second consecutive time). Sources allege that, on this occasion, she had traveled to St. Lucia on a vacation with her children.
However, to date, she has made no statement related to the workers’ grievances or how they will be resolved – surfacing only on Facebook to threaten political activist George Wehner with “legal action” for asking questions about her ministry.
