Last in, first out at BWIA By Sherry Ann Singh (Trinidad Guardian) The last in, first out method was applied in determining redundant workers= =20 at national carrier BWIA West Indies Airways. Yet one dismissed employee claims colleagues more junior to him have been=20 retained by the airline. Colin Warner, formerly employed in BWIA's=20 purchasing and materials logistics department, says his dismissal is even=20 more suspicious because of the history he has had with the company. Warner= =20 has been employed with BWIA since 1997. But he was one of six employees=20 sent on leave in October 2000 pending an investigation into certain=20 purchasing irregularities and missing aircraft parts. After about 16=20 months, he said all the workers were asked to return to work, but they were= =20 never told of the findings of the investigation, nor were their names ever= =20 cleared. When he returned to work, Warner says he was asked to perform the= =20 duties of Materials Analyst, which he found baffling. Technically, this was a lateral movement, but he felt it was tantamount to= =20 a demotion since it was a post he had held three years before. The changes= =20 did not end there. Warner says he was subsequently placed on a special=20 project for one month, but was handed his termination letter before that=20 could be completed. Warner's letter says the criteria used in the selection= =20 of persons to be retrenched has been the "last in, first out =AD all things= =20 being equal". That is, the most recently hired employees would be the first= =20 to be sent home. Yet he insists, "Other more junior people are still=20 working in that position." Warner is not the only aggrieved worker. He is=20 one of 72 BWIA employees who have been shown the back door since a=20 restructuring to deal with the fallout from September 11 began. And one of= =20 several who feel they have been unfairly targeted. Consider how someone who claims to have given 21 years of service to the=20 airline feels about being kicked out the door. That is the position dismissed employee, Ken Crichlow finds himself in. In= =20 fact, Crichlow puts his dismissal down to one reason =AD victimisation.=20 Crichlow was a foreman in BWIA's traffic section. Choking back his=20 emotions, he recounted how the only reason given for his dismissal was poor= =20 performance. "But they never did a performance appraisal in my area to=20 identify weaknesses. So when they spoke of performance, I felt something=20 was wrong." That accusation was particularly painful because Crichlow says= =20 he has given nothing but his best to the organisation. He said the traffic= =20 department, which is responsible for luggage, is one of the most complex in= =20 the organisation. They have to ensure that each piece of luggage reaches=20 its destination on time and often have to brave inclement weather getting=20 it on and off the aircraft. He is a stickler for customer service, insisting that "the airline does not= =20 sell seats, it sells service." In addition to Crichlow, nine of 11=20 permanent part timers in his department have been sent home. He finds such= =20 staff cuts unexplainable in a department that was understaffed. "They were= =20 deeply hurt about it. There was need for greater manpower in that area," he= =20 said. The married father of three school age children, says his faith will= =20 pull him through, though he wonders about the manner in which BWIA acted.=20 "They have not put anything in place to deal with staffto see if they even= =20 have a mortgage to paybut because of my religious faith, I know I will=20 survive". What he can still not come to terms with though is the reason for his=20 dismissal. Crichlow says if that were clear, he'd be able to move on much= =20 easier. Crichlow and Warner may yet have their day =AD in court. BWIA unions= =20 have already challenged two of the dismissals in the Industrial Court, and= =20 intend to take up the matter of several other retrenched workers. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBSC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (HCL) http://www.hcltt.com/ (HCL Group of Companies) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************