Andrea Downer, Gleaner Writer
THE CARIBBEAN Cement Company plant in Rockfort, St. Andrew, was shut down yesterday afternoon when approximately 600 workers walked off the job to protest what they claimed was the forced resignation of one of their
co-workers.
Navel Clarke, deputy island supervisor for the National Workers' Union, told The Gleaner that all categories of workers at the plant walked off the job shortly after 12 o'clock yesterday afternoon. It is not known when the workers will return to work.
NO CHOICE BUT TO RESIGN
He said a manager who had been employed at the plant for 16 years felt he had no choice but to resign after a rift between the plant's general manager and the manager worsened yesterday. Mr. Clarke said the workers claimed that other employees had left the company before because of problems they had also experienced in relating to the general manager.
"The workers felt that it was something that many other personnel have endured and put up with; some have left as a result of it and some have stayed," Mr. Clarke explained. "But it is something that they claim has been an ongoing problem with the general manager."
Mr. Clarke said the workers have vowed to remain off the job until they meet with the chief executive officer of the plant, who is based in Trinidad. Mr. Clarke said the CEO indicated that he would not be able to meet
with the workers until next Wednesday when he returns to the island.
When contacted, Lystra Sharpe, public relations officer at the Cement Company, said the organisation had not yet ascertained why the workers walked off the job. She said, however, that the company employs approximately 300 persons and that all the workers do not report to work at the same time as the plant operates on a shift system.
