Veteran Bajan trade unionist devastated at likely job cuts

(Barbados Nation) VETERAN TRADE UNIONIST Sir Roy Trotman last night warned Barbadians they should be prepared for the possibility that some of the 3 500 public servants who are about to lose their jobs will end up in prison and the Psychatric Hospital and some of their children on welfare.

Sir Roy also said he was devastated “by the idea of so many people who have got to surrender their jobs”, but again stressed his union did not see strike action as the right course to take. In fact, he said he was not sure the union could provide for the workers if it called them out on strike.

“I will be frank and say that I don’t know of anyone who has a strike fund big enough that we will be able to take care of the needs of those people in the long run.”

At the same time, he acknowledged that the future for Barbados looked bleak and that the private sector had to step up to the plate and create new streams of employment.