Overtime Owed – By Kisean Joseph
Overtime Owed Since 2014
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Ministry of Public Works employees went without pay for months while being publicly criticised over their work ethic, Senator Jonathan Wehner has claimed, questioning how the administration could fund the hiring of hundreds of new workers ahead of the April general election while older wage claims allegedly went unresolved.
Speaking on Observer AM, Wehner said the Prime Minister criticised the workers before the extent of the unpaid wages was known.
“The Prime Minister, before this process is taking place, threw the workers under the bus. ‘They have no work ethic, they’re lazy’,” Wehner said. “Little did we know as a nation that he’s saying that because they weren’t getting paid. So what happened to the surplus that we had for the last three years?”
According to reports, the issue surfaced during a recent protest by ministry staff, where a shop steward reportedly told the nation that overtime owed to some employees, not only those hired since the election, stretches back to 2014.
Wehner said the claims raise pointed questions about the administration’s spending priorities.
“How do you find money to bring in 800 new workers just before April 30th, when you have people you can’t pay for 12 years?” he said.