Conflict at cemetery

Bridgetown.

Several employees of the Sanitation Service Authority(SSA) gathered in the Westbury Cemetery yesterday  in solidarity  with cemetery workers,who are refusing to work with their boss Superintendent of Cemeteries Ricky Cummins.

The employees including garbage collectors,cleaners and truck drivers said the work stoppage would continue until Cummins was removed.

Gravediggers at the cemetery have vowed not to dig any graves unti their demands are met.

Cemetery workers charged that they give the SSA management the ultimatum last Thursday at a meeting held at the cemetery that they wish Cummins to be reassigned.

"We give them until Monday to get back to us ant they did not;so we are not working with Mr Cummins", one worker told Trakker News.

The police were called to the cemetery, after the workers confronted two gravediggers who had not joined them in the stoppage but were waiting to cover prepared graves.

A police officer told the SSA workers that could not prevent the men from working. Acting deputy general manager of the SSA, Janice Jones appealed to the SSA workers to return to work but to no avail.

The gracediggers are upset because Cummins is preventing them from subcontracting the digging of graves to people not hired by the SSA among other things.