…to be paid during holidays

MINISTER of Education Nicolette Henry on Friday met with sweeper/cleaners at the St Stanislaus College to address and listen to their concerns.
In her remarks to the gathering, Henry said that it is important that everyone is treated with dignity and respect at their places of work and the same will apply to them. Minister Henry told the cleaners that she convened the meeting to hear from them first-hand what are some of the issues affecting them.
She also announced that a decision has been made for all sweepers/cleaners to be allowed to work a daily eight-hour shift and that the previous six hours cap has been scrapped. Additionally, Minister Henry also announced that sweepers/cleaners will now be paid for service provided during the school holidays, since their services will be required. Further, Ms. Henry assured that she will meet quarterly with them to get their feedback and to gauge if improvements are being made with regard to their working conditions and other issues that might be affecting them.

In a release, the ministry said many of those who attended the meeting raised a number of issues and the minister gave the assurance that she will work to address them at the earliest possible time. She told the gathering that while she will be able to address many of their issues shortly, she will not be able to address some of those expeditiously, since they involve other government agencies and this will take some time.
Recently, State Minister Joseph Harmon announced that a recommendation from the Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally, for regularisation of the employment of sweepers/cleaners within the public sector, particularly within the public school system, was approved by Cabinet.

Minister Harmon told reporters that Cabinet has agreed to a proposal made by the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Finance to be placed in the 2018 budget presentation. He said the proposal will be used as the base upon which the other agencies, such as the Ministries of the Presidency, Social Protection and Finance will examine carefully the issue related to sweepers/ cleaners. “We trust that these interventions will bring an end to this situation,” Harmon added.