In March we told you about the big investment Green Tropics - now known as Santander will make in sugar cane production and the job opportunities available. Well, the supervisors and managers at Santander will have to appease and convince their existing workers before they take on any more. This morning at around 11, over 40 Santander workers spontaneously protested on the company compound. They are complaining about what they say are low wages and that they are not being paid for the long extra hours they have to work. Today we caught up with the group of disgruntled workers at the site and they were quite candid in explaining their complaints, despite the heavy police presence.
Arturo Maroquin, Disgruntled worker, SANTANDER
"We are here because we work hard every day and yet they don't want to pay us the correct money. They told us to work Easter and when we got our pay, some of us get fifteen dollars/twenty dollars. Some of us got $150 and for our social security they took out $19. Now they're telling us to go work and we have no rights. The helper is just getting $35, yet we have to pay our own bus from Cayo everyday which is $5. For a Coke it's about $2, for a biscuit it's about $1.50, a shilling chips is 50 cents."
Courtney Weatherburne
"All your money goes on lunch."
Arturo Maroquin, Disgruntled worker, SANTANDER
"Yes, yet one of these guys say they know that they owe $30 and when they checked, they've stolen from them $50. He paid $50 so now they come to complain and they told him that it's correct. All of us were happy that we were going to collect well, but when we come to collect now, some of us got $15, some of us got $20 and our social... Let someone else talk now."
Michael Guerra, Worker, SANTANDER
"The thing is that they made us work so much hours, extra hours and then when pay day come, those extra hours turned into nothing. Sometimes they make us work 7/8 at night and what happened to these hours?"
Courtney Weatherburne
"So what do you do and how much do you usually get for that set job?"
Michael Guerra, Worker, SANTANDER
"Well I'm a welder right, and the thing is my regular is $50 a day but then they always make us work an extra hour; two hours in the morning and evening."
Jose Melgar, Worker
"Now, my complaint is that the painters, they are my brothers and their pay is $40. I work on the heights and I get $35, that's not correct. So that is my complaint here."
Augustine Ical, Worker
"My pay comes out short, you can see it right here. This is $150 that they gave me and I'm supposed to accept more. This morning I went to the engineer and I told him about my check. He told me if I don't like it I should leave, the gate is open."
Arturo Maroquin, Disgruntled worker, SANTANDER
"That's what's demotivate us because right now you can go all around and you can see the people's faces. All of us are working yes, but you don't see that happiness, but if they had paid us correct, we would have worked extra, we would have worked happy, we would've been singing. But you go there right now everyone has a screw face right now."
About 3 GSU trucks along with other police officers were deployed to the site. We spoke with Country Representative for Santander Beverly Burke and she told us that the accounts department assured her that the workers were paid for the overtime work. In response to the workers' issue about cost of water and transportation, she told us that Santander provides free transportation and water for the workers. In terms of the complaints about wages - Santander sent out a press release today stating that in the week leading up to Easter, the workers got a payday advance - with repayment to be deducted in the following payday, the week ending on April 10th, 2015.
And apparently that created the confusion. Sandtander says twenty members of the staff were querying this misunderstanding when discussions became heated and the officer in charge at Santander called Police to ensure that things didn't get out of control.
Santander says that all issues have been resolved and operations are back to normal.
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