Police foiled a major roadblock at Mosquito Creek, La Romaine, during the pre-dawn hours of yesterday as retrenched Construtora OAS workers tried to use concrete barricades to block the road.
The former workers arrived at the Creek from 3 am.
Using a truck they attempted to drag the heavy concrete barricades across the road. However, patrolling police officers arrived on the scene and most of the workers fled.
Around 5 am, they again attempted to block the road using debris. Police cleared the road before dawn and kept frequent patrols which allowed for a free flow of traffic.
Around 8 am, workers left the Creek and went to the OAS headquarters in Golconda where they were asked to verify their Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) number. One of the workers, Sunil Sookram, said the company has not yet started payments.
“They are telling us they need us to verify the information for payroll,” Sookram explained. He said he was suspicious because OAS had already terminated payroll staff as well as officers from the Human Resource Department.
Ann-Marie Morgan, who also came to OAS to verify her BIR information, said she asked officers when she could expect her outstanding salary and retrenchment benefits.
“I could get no clear answers. We are asking the Government to liaise on our behalf so OAS cannot pack up and leave the country without paying us.”
Bryan Ramtoole, who worked as a timekeeper, said he was not satisfied with the delays in payment. “If this is a gimmick, we will know and OAS will face the consequences. All we want is our just dues,” Ramtoole said.
Last week, for three consecutive days the workers blocked the Golconda Connector Road and the South Trunk Road over the non-payment of wages and severance benefits.
They called on Nidco, the project manager, to release OAS performance bonds so it could pay workers.
A senior Nidco official said releasing the bond before the end of the contract could have legal ramifications.
Nidco’s communications manager, Ingrid Ishmael, said workers who believed that could be done were misinformed.
OWTU’s president general Ancel Roget said OAS must honour its commitment to pay workers.
He called on all workers to join with the union as it lobbied Government to change anti-worker legislation, including the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act and Companies Act.