Workers of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) yesterday staged a protest over the non-payment of salaries while threatening additional industrial action that may result in the total shutdown of the City Hall.
Approximately 400 workers are affected by the city’s inability to raise approximately $67M to pay monthly salaries.
Several of the workers gathered at City Hall expressed concern over the non-payment of their salaries, which they said is becoming the norm. They complained of not being able to put meals on their tables for their children and them having to work on empty stomachs.
Margaret Adams told Stabroek News that she is tired of running around to get her salary. She said that her family members are the ones suffering since she is a single parent and the sole breadwinner for her three children. “I is the only one who does work and I have three children home waiting for food. It hard pon me and I want me money because my children them need to eat,” she said.
Another irate worker, Andrew Singh, said that it is ridiculous that the workers are not being paid on time, while the “big ones” receive their salaries on time. “The people that working in the Town Clerk and Mayor Office does get them money pon time but awe got fuh wait and them gon pay we when them feel like,” he lamented.
The workers are demanding that they be paid or the city will suffer dire consequences. They are threatening a total shut down of the services offered by City Hall until they are paid. They are also suggesting that mechanisms be put in place to ensure they are being paid “on time every time.”
Acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba yesterday said that she is focusing on the payment of the most vulnerable group of workers compared to the senior employees. She said that the vulnerable group includes sweepers and cleaners, since they are the ones who are more in need.
As a result of the situation, City Hall is again considering downsizing the workforce. Sooba said consultations are underway with the various unions to have the workforce of the city downsized, since it is “top-heavy.”
Georgetown’s Mayor Hamilton Green said that the downsizing of the municipality’s workforce will be widespread as there will be no preferred groups of employees. He added that the M&CC continues to be hindered by the government in seeking other avenues of earning revenue, which remains among the main contributing factors to the lack of cash at the municipality.
Green was at the time addressing the media at an emergency press conference while workers were protesting over the non-payment of their salaries. He said that he spoke to the Sooba, who indicated that she is in the process of signing the cheques for the payment of the employees.
