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DWC employees refuse to be thrown out
The 300 employees of the Development Works Corporation (DWC) have the feeling that the government was ignoring them when it decided to close the parastatal body down. The minister of Finance gave them the deathblow: he announced its closure in his budget speech. Even though he reassured them that the government would make sure the workers are not left without compensation, trade unionists are anxious.
Yet the meeting with the DPM and minister of Public Infrastructures, Rashid Beebeejeun, seems to have calmed them down after their public protests before the prime minister’s office last Wednesday. They had the feeling that the DPM had listened to them.
A few days before the budget speech, the prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, wanted to make it clear that he would not tolerate any further wastage – at least during the next four years. And, to show he meant what he said, he took the bull by the horns and announced he was closing the DWC, an institution that has been deeply in the red for years.
Determination to act</B>
Hence, DWC employees took to the streets to ask for minister Sithanen’s resignation. Union leaders like Toolsiraj Benydin, Radhakrishna Sadien, Reaz Chuttoo and Deepak Benydin joined the workers to show their determination to act. They expressed much resentment against the government, seen as a party “working for capitalists”. Protesters even threatened to repeat their move if the PM did not agree to meet them and come with their families to show the PM that the future of many people was at stake.
According to Radakrishna Sadien, most of the problems are due to the different governments, which had not paid what they owed to the DWC for years.
Moreover, the government forced the corporation to engage in a voluntary retirement scheme, which caused it to borrow some Rs 200 million to compensate retiring workers.
This is why the workers consider they are not responsible for the difficult situation prevailing at the DWC, so they should not be the ones to pay the consequences.
Even though the DWC has not met its requirements for many years, workers should not be the main losers. But it is clear that you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs… Obviously, a choice had to be made!
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