OFFICES GIVEN FAILING GRADE

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OFFICES GIVEN FAILING GRADE

Web Posted - Sat Mar 04 2006

By Sherlock Small

Barbados Advocate - Barbados

http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=24762

Staff of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) have given their

working conditions a failing grade and demonstrated their disgust at

prolonged accommodation in substandard working conditions by staging

a work stoppage yesterday that caught management completely by

surprise.

The staff walked off the job just before a scheduled general staff

meeting, not even bothering to touch the refreshments that had been

provided, and leaving management to talk it over among themselves.

Carrying placards such as honk if you support us, and Louis

Lynch, we understand, staff gathered outside the CXC office at the

Ernst and Young Building on Bay Street, one of six current CXC

offices, of which staff said five are substandard.

They said that they intended to assess the response of the

authorities to their plight over the next few weeks, adding that if

no satisfactory action was taken to address their immediate needs,

then further action could be expected.

Staff said they have been falling ill with headaches, bleeding

noses, itching throats and skin, inflamed eyes, respiratory

problems, and unusual asthma attacks among other ailments.

In response, CXC Registrar, Dr. Lucy Steward acknowledged the

dedication of the CXC staff, and said she was aware of the problems,

which management was doing its best to have addressed.

I informed the staff representatives with whom I spoke, that the

management has been in contact with the Ministry of Education and

officers from the Ministry of Housing on a continuous basis. And

only this week I spoke to three persons, including the Permanent

Secretary in the Ministry of Education about the conditions of the

buildings.

Efforts have been made and the Ministry is making efforts to try

and find temporary accommodation for some of the staff and also to

get a new headquarters building for us. So that we have been assured

of that, and the staff in staging their protest are saying that

matters are not taking place as fast as possible, but I can report

that our housing is being considered as a priority, Dr. Steward

stated.

She added it was hoped that the protest, the first of its kind,

would not cause any disruption in the normally reliable CXC service.

I hope that our staff would be back at work as quickly as possible.

We were not warned about this action, and as I said it happened just

before a general staff meeting which obviously had to be cancelled.

The way our work goes, there is no low period, because we have

examinations all through the year, so that any kind of action that

will take workers away from their jobs will certainly affect what we

do. However, we have a very committed staff, and we have not had to

delay results, and so we want to give the assurance that any protest

action will not in any way prevent students from getting their

results at this time.

Outlining their concerns, a senior staff representative told the

Barbados Advocate that the office in the old Ernst and Young

building had been declared unfit before staff of Ernst & Young moved

out, and yet CXC was moved in. The building, the spokesperson said,

had only one toilet for 23 staff members, adding there was

inadequate ventilation in the toilet, and the entire office. Staff

said the air quality in the building was poor, adding they believed

that the poor air quality in the building was connected to the

nosebleed recently experienced by a pregnant employee who had to

take sick leave.

Noting that the CXC was the Cinderella of regional organisations

hosted in Barbados, staff said problems with inferior and unhealthy

accommodation for CXC staff dated back some 25 years.

Of other CXC offices, staff said dead rodents were found in the

office at the former Everson Elcock building, which experienced a

stench, water leaking through the walls and consequent growth of

mould. This building had to be evacuated on instructions from a

National Housing Corporation official because of the mould, but

staff said they understood they were to be moved back in to the

building, which would be disinfected every two weeks.

CXC staff are also housed in Block B at the Garrison, at offices

formerly occupied by the Town and Country Planning, a site where

staff noted that asbestos problems were rife. At Letting #4 which

houses CXC information systems staff, air quality, falling ceiling

tiles and other debris, and the lack of a fire exit, were identified

as the main concerns.

Staff said things were no better at CXC Headquarters at Block A at

the Garrison, where rotting wood can be found inside and outside of

the building, water leaks into offices, and wet carpets promote

growth of mould and fungus. In addition, staff said, a grass snake

that has eluded capture calls the office home, and working with

numerous old cardboard boxes does not help.