~Members file official complaint~

PHILIPSBURG--The Workers Institute for Organised Labour (WIFOL) and its members who responded to the employment offer at the Simpson Bay Resort Management Company (SBRMC) have informed the Labour Department about the Resort's refusal to provide workers with copies of the short term contracts being offered.

WIFOL has written the Labour Department about the matter, while the union's members have filed an official complaint.

In its January 23 letter, the union expressed concern about the one year contracts given to workers and requested a copy of the contract.

The union also sent a letter to SBRMC General Manager Jules James, a Member of Parliament (MP) for the United People's (UP) Party and to the Resort's Human Resource Department Head Carmen Barran requesting a copy of the contract. The union also requested information as to how many of its members signed contracts.

Thompson said the union is concerned about the short-term contracts given to its members who were "invited to continue their work at the Resort." He said several workers took up the offer, but when they requested a copy of the contracts they were denied this.

The union President said any worker who respond to an opening at a company are supposed to be given copies of the contracts beforehand to review and given sufficient time to analyse the contracts before being required to sign. He said too that workers should be given a copy of what they sign. "The instruction from the General Manager Jules James was that they should not be given the contracts," Thompson said.

Some workers refused to sign the document after being told that they could not be given a copy and reported this information to the union.

Thompson said to date the union has not received a response from the Labour Department or from the Resort. "WIFOL is very disappointed in the slow reaction from the labour department on this matter," he told reporters at the Windward Islands Chamber of Labour Union (WICLU) weekly press conference on Thursday. Thompson is also President of WICLU.

The letter to the Labour Department was also copied to Labour Minister Cornelius de Weever, Labour Ministry Secretary General Jorien Wuite and to the Mediator Derrick Holiday.