A recent post was made to the Twitter account of The Jamaica Star recounting a 72-hour notice from sanitation workers of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) stating that they intend to withdraw labour services.
Reportedly, the National Workers Union (NWU) has been making efforts to rectify the issue for months now with fruitless results. A letter that was dated Monday, July 18, addressed to the executive director of the NSWMA, Audley Gordon, states that the management team has been negligent in meeting with the workers and the union, and due to the company’s negligence, there was no choice but to take further steps. The letter was signed by the assistant island supervisor of the NWU, Dexroy Martin.
A total of ten items to address were listed in the letter, some of which included the lack of a pension plan, irregular payment of salaries, the lack of compensation for out-of-town work, and arbitrary or favourable treatment of workers harmed on the job.
The head of the NSWMA declined to comment.
According to the Star, however, he did state that a preliminary meeting should be held for the coming Monday between Martin and senior officials before he joins them for additional talks the Tuesday following.
Gordon commented that he is troubled by the raised points and that they were being addressed. He also recognized that the shortage of trucks was hindering the collection of garbage islandwide. Gordon expressed that they are running behind in a lot of areas as the scheduled arrival for trucks before the COVID-19 pandemic will be added to the fleet over the next twelve months.
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