Planned industrial action scheduled for yesterday at the Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union Limited (BPWCCUL) over its job regrading exercise has been put on hold.
Sources told the DAILY NATION that the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) was working assiduously with management at the credit union in an effort to get the matter resolved.
Last week the credit union, said to be the largest in Barbados, found itself in a bind with what many called a sick-out from staff. The situation affected the tellers section as well as the payroll and the accounts department.
Sources said the regrading and back-pay exercises resulted in some staff not receiving an increase in salary.
“What happened was instead of upgrading their salary and that of many in the organisation, they pushed down their grades to a bracket below, as low as even entry level, which prevents them from receiving an increase in the future,” one source said, pointing out that some employees were still receiving salaries between $2 700 and $3 000 a month, way below their counterparts in other credit unions.
“Those who were Grade 3 moved to 2 and it got worse. Those in 2, like the payroll section, were moved to Grade 1 and it was noted that their salaries were now at the bottom of the scale, below tellers, messengers and contact centre agents, while the contact centre agents who are entry level were moved from Grade 1 to 3, incurring high increases even more than loan officers who too received nothing. The departments that run the organisation and bring growth are those seriously affected.”
The source further stated that there were no technical difficulties as reported by management and operations were still not back to normal. “Staff are still on a go-slow.”
Another source said that last Friday, staff were initially informed to get prepared for industrial action.
A notice from the BWU stated: “We are currently engaged in a meeting with the BPWCCUL group management to discuss the job evaluation and its recent implementation.
“At this point, it is clear that the agreed-upon terms and conditions have been violated. We are officially notifying all staff of the BPWCCUL group that we are in a state of disrepute. If the agreement is not honoured, we will commence industrial action starting on Monday, August 11, 2025.”
However, that notice was pulled back following a meeting on Friday with management.
Sources said management also requested the union to give it until August 15 to review the matter but this was rejected. It is understood that management also held a meeting on Saturday.
When contacted, Cheyne Jones, communications and information manager at the BWU, told the DAILY NATION: “We are currently addressing the matter internally.”
It is understood that as a result of the regrading and back-pay exercises, those at the top tier walked away with as much as $20 000 after tax.
When contacted last Thursday, BPWCCUL group financial controller Levere Catlyn confirmed staff were indeed absent last Tuesday but said he could not ascribe anything to it.
“There [was] some absenteeism, probably on Tuesday, but with the long weekend, I can’t put that to any sick-outs,” he said.
On the delay in accessing salaries, Catlyn said: “We did experience some technical difficulties over the (last) weekend that would have resulted in some delays in payroll posting, but all those things have now returned to normalcy.”
Asked about the regrading exercise, he stated: “We did have a job evaluation exercise that is currently being completed.”
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