The island’s largest public sector trade union is reporting significant progress in bringing closure to a series of outstanding issues affecting Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) workers.After meeting with the SSA employees on Thursday morning to update them on the developments and to get feedback, Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Wayne Walrond announced that the employees would receive an increase in their washing allowance from April while more than 100 new appointments and promotions are expected to take effect around the end of March.Walrond said while recent discussions with the board also agreed to review the level of hazard pay for those who collect and dispose of refuse, that contentious issue was still under negotiation.“We agreed that the regrading of posts would be a complex one, so we thought that tackling the hazard pay allowance would be less complicated and we are negotiating that. But we were successful in getting the washing
The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) is warning Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) employees looking to defect to another trade union, that such a move could be a major setback to having their outstanding grievances resolved.Scores of SSA workers have broken ties with the NUPW in favour of the Caswell Franklyn-led Unity Workers’ Union (UWU), claiming unsatisfactory representation in having their outstanding concerns addressed.However, on Friday General Secretary of the union Richard Greene had some good news for those who remain under the NUPW umbrella.Greene said the SSA board has agreed in principle to support the workers’ demands for increases in hazard pay and washing allowance.“The board has supported it in principle to grant it to the workers, but it now has to get approval from the Ministry of the Public Service. The board can’t grant it on its own.”