Dear Editor,
The employees of the Linden Hospital Complex were transferred from Linmine to the Ministry of Health in 1995. In August of the same year the employees were asked to sign a one year contract in order to give the government time to enact legislation to make the Complex a corporation. The then Minister of Health Ms Gail Teixeira promised the employees that they were not to be fearful because their tenure of employment would have been taken care of. During the one year a gratuity of 22½% of their basic salary would be paid. This continued until 2009, during which time their union and others kept enquiring when the Complex would be corporatized, but to date things remain the same. During their ordeal neither Minister of Health, Ms Teixeira or Dr Henry Jeffrey, have come forward to say a word in favour of these workers.
Today they are worse off. The contract was changed to that which is issued to all contract workers nationwide. With this change the conditions to receive their gratuity have also changed. There are letters from the Ministry of Health which clearly state that their gratuity is paid in lieu of pension. The workers according to them have now got to pay six months of their gratuity to get pregnant or to proceed on extended sick leave for more than one month. If their maternity leave should commence within the first three months of the six months period and conclude in the next three months they lose six months of their gratuity.
Another increase in salaries has been imposed on public servants, and the workers are asking if it would be applied to their overtime. They are concerned since the 5% increase for 2010 was not paid to the workers of the Complex. They were told by the management of the Complex and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Mr Hardyal Ally, that the Ministry of Finance had said that the increase would not apply to overtime and that the 5% overtime was not paid to public servants. This matter, I was reliably informed, was raised at all levels by the union and Minister Ramsammy had promised to raise it at Cabinet, but to date no payment has been made. or, this is the strangest thing I have ever heard. All who know about this problem are at a loss and unable to see the logic of it. One would assume that if there is an increase in salaries the overtime rate would automatically increase.
The workers of the Linden Hospital Complex, from as far back as 1998, have had to struggle and fight to receive what is rightfully theirs. They are still demanding that they are paid for their overtime due for 2010.
Yours faithfully,
Maurice Butters
Union Representative
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy for any comment he might wish to make.
