Former employees of Toucan Connections Incorporated, the Linden call centre that abruptly shut its doors late last month, are still waiting for their severance package and are hopeful that the authorities would ensure that their erstwhile employers keep their end of the bargain.
“We just want our money, I work there too long to just allow the money to go but I keep finding out and like there is no compensation whatsoever and I am basically broke,” a mother of three who worked with the company for almost six years told Stabroek News on Sunday.
Some 83 persons, mostly women, were left jobless when the company suddenly shut its doors on August 28. The situation attracted the attention of junior Minister of Social Protection Simona Broomes who led a team to the mining town and met with officials and staff of the centre. The company was one of Linden’s major employers and the minister advised the St-Kitts based company officials that they have to pay the employees severance.
The officials had initially told workers that the government would have paid their severance but this was corrected by the minister who made it clear that it was the company’s obligation to do so.
Some of the former employees told Stabroek News that they are finding it hard with no source of income and children to feed.
It is not clear what the government plans to do to assist the workers in accessing their severance. After Broomes would have met with the workers, a report was done and forwarded to senior Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence. Stabroek News was unable to get a comment from Lawrence on the issue.
One employee recalled how shocked she was on the last day she worked when she was told that it was her last day of work and the company would meet with workers a few days later.
Another former employee said that she “was kind of expecting it” because their employers kept reducing their hours of work and she suspected they were in financial trouble.
“When we finally met with them, they told us that there was no job and that the place was closed completely and that they will give us some compensation but that the government will pay us severance,” one of the employees said.
Another said she believed this because the business was housed in a building that was owned by the government and which once housed Guyana Stores. This was cleared up by Broomes, who, at the meeting, made it clear that it was the business’ responsibility to pay severance. Apart from being fired without warning, one woman said their employers treated them “less than human.”
“They treated us like dogs, they chase you when they don’t want you to come,” she said adding that even as the working hours decreased, they were forced to sign out of their systems if the manager called them or if they wanted to visit the bathroom.
“Now you can be on the job for six hours but only get paid for five hours. When they call you in their office, you don’t know how long you have to stay,” she said. The woman related that they knew how they were treated was not right “but you know the saying when your hand in tiger mouth you have to pat it. Even though it was wrong, we knew at the end of the month we had something to look forward to, it was really tough in Linden.”
The woman said that while she awaits her money, she is attempting to elevate herself and with the help of family members she is surviving. Speaking directly to the new administration, the woman said that Lindeners need jobs and to be treated fairly. She said the administration should ensure that when investors come in “that your people are treated fairly and not for the company alone to benefit.”
Another employee said she would not blame her former employers “for all the bad times we had.”
“The working condition, it was not to the best but I cannot fully blame my employer on the condition, especially with the place being hot,” the woman said. She explained that the building had central air conditioning which would malfunction from time to time and her former employers would have it fixed from time to time. This resulted in them “buying a lot of fans which only made sense only when it rained because when the sun was out is only hot air you getting.”
She also spoke about the building leaking and she feels “because the building was government owned they should have looked it after.”
However, she did acknowledge that the management was unprofessional in some cases and definitely the manner in which it closed down the business was unprofessional. “I am hoping that we get our pay-off and I hope that government do something with the building and another company come in because we need jobs,” the woman said.
