As the Berger paint plant shut down on Friday, Rodney Wilkinson was among 44 former staff now seeking employment to continue supporting their families.
Wilkinson, who spent 33 years with the firm straight out of school, said he must now find a new job to care for his two younger children, who are in nursery and primary school.
“You have built relationships with workers and this is how you support your family and whatnot, so after so long, it was disheartening news to hear that you have to look for something new as the company shutting down.”
In February, Berger announced it would close its doors on April 24, and for many employees this was the first time they heard the news.
Wilkinson revealed how he found out: “actually I was on sick leave.”
He described the situation as heartbreaking, noting that his co-workers had become like family:
“I had persons that have more time than me. I have persons that have less time than me. I mean who became a family, you work together, you have children, watch one other children grow up and become men and stuff. So it’s like any family that you lost, it’s just heartbreaking.”
The former employee explained that even with a severance cheque, there is little comfort:
“I think people just feel because they get a check, it will last forever but when you start to pay utility bills, look after your children and stuff, at the end of the day, that money goes in a blink of an eye.”
The father of four is, however, remaining positive:
“Just continuing life because at the end of the day, it doesn’t end here and life goes on and life is made up of changes and this is a change in life, but it’s not the end of life.”
He added that some matters still need to be ironed out between the company and the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), which represents the staff.
BWU General Secretary Toni Moore told reporters on Friday that although Berger has closed its doors, several entitlements and other issues remain unresolved.
She said: “Among the outstanding issues are at least three matters before the Employment rights tribunal on resolved issues of outstanding wage negotiations and a matter of incentive payment that remains unresolved because workers who are members of the Barbados Workers Union did not receive incentive payments that people who are not members of the Barbados Workers’ Union would have received from Berger.”
She made clear that these issues were not included in the final payments made to workers: “The workers have received payments that do not relate to the outstanding wage negotiations, they do not relate to other outstanding claim for incentive payment.”
The BWU leader said that during a meeting on Friday with Minister of Labour Colin Jordan, the union was updated on the conciliation process required under the Employment Act. This is a structured way of resolving a dispute with the help of a neutral third party – a conciliator – whose role is to actively assist the parties in reaching an agreement.
Moore said: “During the last two weeks a lot of time was spent with the company trying to get the company to address the matters that had been raised by the union. We received updates on where the matter is from his perspective and what we were also able to share is the information that up to now we have been receiving over the course of this day from workers as it relates to the final documentation (they received) today.”
She also pointed to “irregularities” in payment calculations:
“We have found a number of irregularities in the calculations as presented to the workers in their documentation today and outside of that, we have made representation to the Ministry of Labour that as it relates to the dissolution of the Berger business that the full dissolution of that business should not be allowed until matters relating to those outstanding issues and therefore the fairness and justice that is deserved by these workers are realised.”
The union head called for a halt to the full dissolution of Berger and requested that government agencies block the process until all issues are sorted out: “We’ve asked that the necessary letters will be sent out to all relevant agencies of government, including CAIPO [Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office], to ensure that Berger Barbados is not allowed to dissolve unless these matters are addressed.”
(LG)
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