Hope Gardens workers end brief strike after union, ministry intervention

Disgruntled workers at the Hope Botanic Gardens in St Andrew returned to their posts following a brief industrial action on Tuesday morning after intervention from the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Workers Union, which represents the staff.

An emergency meeting was then scheduled for noon.

Prior to the intervention, Senior Visitor Service Officer (VSO) Josef Solan and about 20 placard-waving workers gathered along the sidewalk, expressing their grievances over the management’s decision to cut wages for some staff.

“The management has decided to cut the salary of a section of staff for the second time in a two-year period,” Solan stated.

He explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, VSOs were required to work a flat 12-hour shift instead of their regular eight-hour workday plus four hours of overtime. He said that while the workers understood the challenges faced by management during the pandemic, there had been no commitment from management regarding a return to the previous work schedule.

In addition, he said some staff members did not sign the agreement drafted by management to pay the flat rate for 12 hours.

“When the union came in and was in discussion with management ... , we saw no push from management to resolve the eight- and four-hour issue, so the union wrote to the Ministry [of Agriculture] and copied management ... and threatened industrial action,” Solan explained.

He said that instead of resolving the issue, management unilaterally introduced an eight-hour shift, which further reduced VSO wages with a cut in their hourly rate.

SALARY CUT

“We are not making demands higher than what we deserve. It’s just our salary that we used to get and we still taking a cut. Because if we go to the flexi work week, we would still be working the same 12 hours so it’s still a cut. We are ok to work it as long as we’re getting back our money from when our pay was cut at the end of COVID-19 or until this pay was cut,” Solan said.

Workers expressed their willingness to continue strike action that could disrupt operations until they received meaningful dialogue with their union and management. They described the current offers as inadequate given the economic climate.

In addition to wage concerns, some workers complained about work conditions and uniforms.

“We nah get no uniform and we nah get no raise of pay. We have a whole heap of underlying issues as it relates to how the company is operated. We get $3,500 to work at events even when we work the whole night. Their motto is always ‘we don’t have any money’,”another resentful worker said

Normal operations resumed at the garden on Tuesday, with regular working hours set to continue on Wednesday while further discussions take place.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com