Hundreds of OAS Construtora employees who stopped work on the Point Fortin Highway last week over health and safety concerns are expected to resume work today.
So said Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) branch president Roger Wharwood during an interview on Friday outside the OAS’s main office in Golconda.
Since September 10, workers stopped work on the highway, demanding that OAS address health and safety issues and their claims of being mistreated by managers.
Wharwood said the company’s management had started the inspection of its more than 600 pieces of equipment on Friday, as demanded by the OWTU, to ensure the workers were not exposed to health and safety violations.
“Work is expected to begin on Monday. Management wanted workers out from tomorrow, but that is not going to happen,” said Wharwood.
“OAS has begun inspection of all its equipment and that is expected to take a few days.”
Wharwood said as soon as the pieces of equipment were cleared to go back on the road, work would resume.
“Not all of the equipment is going to be declared road-safe, but the pieces that do, workers will start back to work using those. Once the company shows interest in getting this done, the union will speak to the workers and advise them to go back to work.”
Contacted on Friday, National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) president Dr Carson Charles said that the inspections, which began on Friday, were being done by independent inspectors.