Dear Editor,
I need to share this incident that happened to me in the month of March for which I was told I have no case. I was shortlisted to work on an oil rig as a Cook/Baker. The interview went well and I got a position of a Camp Boss instead. I was happy. A piece of paper was handed to me to get up some documents to be delivered at the office, which I did. I did my 3 days of test cooking and my medical. I was requested to attend a classroom training for 3 days. The training lasted 2 days. On the last day of the training someone stole my can of juice. I raised an alarm about it with the Assistant HR, who was there at the said time. She mentioned that she will report same to the HR directly.
However, three days after, I followed-up with the Assistant HR about my stolen juice. She said that HR was told about it and he will look into it. Seven days after, I went to see the HR himself about that said incident, but was told I couldn’t see him but a message can be sent, which I did. I received a response, that, “it’s not priority now but will look in to it.” I got a call that said afternoon requesting I visit the office the next morning.
That next day I got demoted by the HR himself saying that higher management said that since I have no experience working on an oil rig they decided to give me my original position as a Cook/Baker. I was disappointed and upset but accepted the demotion since am in need of a job. I had to make that decision right there and then, no chance was given to think about it. The following morning I went back to talk to him about what transpired the day before because I was still in shock. To my surprise, I was dismissed without a proper reason and escorted out of the building. I cried and cried.
I know it was just a can of juice, and to some people, it was petty for me to follow-up. To me, stealing is wrong and I had expected HR to act professionally by making a strong statement against stealing, This view is also indicative of a contemptuous attitude held by politicians toward the Guyanese public whether big or small, but instead I was dismissed before signing my contract. I wrote a statement about what happened and sent an email on March 19th to two higher managers, both foreigners, asking for a review, and to date, I have not received a response. I went into a serious depression. I feel betrayed and victimized because of my honesty.
Sincerely,
(Name and Address Provided)
