By Trevor Thwaites(St. George's corespondent)

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada: The Commercial and Industrial Workers’ Union (CIWU) is calling for the enactment of new Industrial legislation that will ensure that workers receive adequate compensation after being severed from their jobs for one reason or the other. Addressing workers at the May Day rally at Tanteen, President Elliot Bishop expressed solidarity with the more than 350 Nutmeg Workers who lost their jobs after the passage of Hurricane Ivan and are locked in a battle for compensation with the Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association (GCNA).

The CIWU boss, is dissatisfied with the decision of the GCNA to only pay workers one week’s salary from the period 1999 to 2006 in compensation. This he describes as inadequate and called on the government to intervene. “We think it is timely to issue a call to government to introduce legislation, marking it an offense if an employer refuse to pay benefits under the Industrial Contract,” Bishop said. The CIWU is concerned about the anti-worker attitude being displayed by some employers.

Bishop said that the new legislation is crucial because of the several industrial disputes that are festering and can develop into crisis and affect the industrial peace in the country. He spoke about the GCNA’s withholding of severance pay to workers, the Golf Club’s refusal to pay severance pay to workers severed since 2004, the St George’s Book Store and Sea Change Book Store’s refusal to pay severance to workers laid off since January 2004. Bishop wants the Labour Department to look into these matters and ensure that workers receive their just rewards.

Secretary General of the Bank and General Workers Union Justin Campbell also raised the issue of the retrenched Nutmeg workers, who he said are being given little or nothing for their outstanding years of service to the country and the Nutmeg Association. He said that the compensation being offered is inadequate and called on the GCNA to come up with a more humane package. Campbell is appalled that the package does not take into consideration worker who toiled in the industry from 1967 to 2005.



“ I want to know who is paying workers for that. I want Mr Vesprey and his team to tell me. I need answers speedily. There are workers who worked their lives for the Association under deplorable conditions. You tell me, is this justice, equity and good governance?" Government announced last week that it will be providing some form of relief to the unfortunate workers. But Campbell is not convinced that it is being done in good faith. “Isn’t that a slap in the face? It seems like somebody isn’t doing their work and I don’t know who is fooling who,” he told the rally.