Wales Workers Protest removal of ATM

On June 09, 2009, workers of Wales Estate staged a picketing exercise in front of Estate’s Administrative Building, demanding that 80 workers who were receiving their wages through the once operated Demerara Bank Automated Teller Machine (ATM) at Wales and forced to make their withdrawals in Georgetown, to be paid at the Estate like other workers.

Representation by the Union to Guysuco to have the affected workers paid at the Estate like the other hundreds of employees fell on deaf ears. As such, affected workers had to expend some $700 for transportation to receive their remuneration from the Demerara Bank ATM in Camp Street, Georgetown, and return home.

Additionally, the time spent travelling resulted in a loss of working hours as some workers had to travel from the estate to the Camp Street ATM at least twice before they received their wages, and worse, they had no money on Fridays, which is the market day at Wales.

Since the picketing exercise, the Estate’s Management began to pay the affected workers at the Estate’s Pay Offices.