AIR TRAFFIC WORKERS TREATEN TO DERAIL CHOGMBy Indarjit Seuraj Sunday, November 22 2009
Disgruntled air traffic control workers are planning sick-out action on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), a move which will cripple air traffic at the Piarco International Airport.
The industrial action is expected to send a message to the board of the Civil Aviation Authority over employee concerns. The employees are expected to stage their protest on November 25 and 26 and again on November 28 and 29 which could disrupt the arrival and departure of foreigners attending the CHOGM which starts Friday 27.
“Well, there was the Fifth Summit of the Americas, with the complex air traffic which came in, a number of (air traffic) controllers were called in, and yes it was a smooth run. But they observed all of the operations for the Summit. They saw how critical it was for them to be there,” a source who spoke on condition of anonymity said. However, this time around the air traffic controllers are not prepared to be so accommodating. The decision to take action was prompted after the CAA refused to pay workers outstanding salaries dating back to 2004. This, despite a ruling by the Industrial Court earlier in the year ordering the CAA to pay the outstanding money.
The source, who spoke during a phone interview yesterday, said he and his colleagues were fed up of “management indiscretions”.
“We find there are major management indiscretions which are affecting staff negatively,” he said.
The source claimed that the authority has been mismanaged for a number of years, ill treating and dismissing employees. Things reportedly climaxed with the treatment of one particular employee last December. The employee was fired after he had been absent from work for about a month. The medical leave he supplied wasn’t enough to cover the period.
“If management took the time to call and see what was wrong with him they would have realised he was not fit enough to be at work,” the source said. He explained that the young man was depressed from personal circumstances.
“Management decided to make an example of him. On December 13, the same day he received that call, he killed himself.”
The source noted that management should have known the requirements for employees to be stress free to avoid lapses in judgement on the job.
“You can’t have an air traffic controller in the tower and depressed for any reason. It can lead to unfortunate situations, dangers and other things.”
Since the death of their colleague, he said, the workers have been trying to find a way to make management realise they are upset with their performance.
“Poor management affects everybody. But how to make a statement? How to make management know they are affecting everybody?”
Another employee who insisted on remaining anonymous said that staff members were “demotivated.”
“It’s a statement we are going to make,” he said of the planned sick-out.
“It’s a crippling of operations at Piarco for CHOGM,” the source said. “If you consider the ramifications of this plan it is catastrophic.”
He added, “We do not support the idea of disrupting CHOGM, but letters have been written to the Minister of Works and Transport Colm Imbert and yet nothing has been done.”
