Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

Protest march held in St Lucia

Friday, November 24, 2006

by: Anselma Aimable
Caribbean Net News St Lucia Correspondent
Email: anselma@caribbeannetnews.com

CASTRIES, St Lucia: On Wednesday, the Trade Union Federation (TUF) in St Lucia organised a solidarity march as a show of protest for the dismissal of eighty-plus employees of Sandals Regency Golf Resort and Spa located at La Toc.

Joseph Dosserie, president of TUF, indicated that everyone should wear black and white, and anyone who wore political colours or carried any placards with political statements would be ejected.

The National Workers Union understood the plight of the workers, but was unsure as to what goal the march was going to achieve, hence NWU was not part of the march.

Meanwhile, hundreds of workers from the other unions, alongside the dismissed workers, attended the march, which began at the Civil Service Union head quarters at Sans Soucis, then along some city streets and ended in the Jn Baptiste Street area.

Dosserie also advised the speakers that the speeches should not be of a political nature. According to the Ministry of Education, permission was not granted to the teachers. Only a few schools were affected by the protest action.

Less than 24 hours after the solidarity march, workers of the St Lucia Air and Seaport Authority (SLASPA) took strike action over a breakdown in negotiation for a 10% wage increase. SLASPA wants the workers to settle for 3%, 3% and 4% over a three-year period, but George Goddard of the National Workers Union is not about to settle for payments over a three-year period.

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