Dear Sirs
I am one of the country’s essential workers who diligently, along with other truck workers, clear this country of rubbish and refuse and ensure its safe disposal at the Cooks Dump.
Whilst the rest of government workers receive their monthly salary on time, Solid Waste workers are paid 25% of their monthly salaries at most. Sometimes we have to wait 6 weeks between ONE weeks pay. The only explanation we receive is that “government haven’t paid us”. When they do pay, they don’t double up on weeks pay,– a box standard, one week, basic pay. This normally has to last us and our workers for another four weeks.
Its costs between $500 – $1000 a week in fuel for our trucks to run and clean the country effectively, but with no pay how do Solid Waste or the government expect us to do our job? We received no reduced fuel prices. No other government workers have to put up with this abuse of employment and lack of timely pay. 25% of salary monthly??
Truck workers are not happy and have expressed how this is not sustainable nor fair. We are reaching the point that they will have no option but to strike.
The citizens in the villages we service all count on us to provide timely refuse collection and this greatly helps the country avoid health & hygiene problems, vermin infestations and currently contribute to help keeping the community transmission of Covid 19 low. By not paying Solid Waste workers the reality is that we will not be able to continue to operate and refuse collection would be few and far between.
Solid Waste please make paying your essential refuse workers a priority, pay us weekly, pay us 100% of our monies due monthly. We stand up outside your offices like beggars for honest work done only to be sent away with promises of “next week will be better”. Is this a way to treat respectable workers, that our country has given the title of essential?
We are not willing to hold the strain anymore – just because we collect rubbish does not mean we should be treated as rubbish.
Please do better. The truck owners, our workers, our families, our suppliers rely on you doing your bit so that we can do ours. Pay us what you owe us and pay us on time.
Sincerely yours,
Disgruntled Solid Waster Worker.
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Where is the CIP money to help with this short fall? Don’t tell me that the CIP money done already? This country is going down in quicksand and fast to. Lord Jesus help us and give our government insight how to manage our country finance resources.
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