BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A number of junior staff employed at Lutron Liamuiga Ltd. are complaining about unfavourable working conditions and the displaying of a lack of empathy from their superiors.
As recent as last week, SKNVibes received a number of complaints from employees of the factory, located at the C. A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site, which range from denial of use of the lavatory facilities to the “unbearable” maintenance of the workload, despite a reduction in the number of staff.
It was explained to SKNVibes that the system by which commodities are produced at Lutron is via “running lines”, where a product would flow along a belt and each worker on the line is required to attach an element to it within a specific time until it gets to the end of the line completely assembled.
According to the complaints, the lines are short-staffed and the workers are still required to produce at the same level as if the lines were fully-manned.
Another complaint is that supervisors or “line leaders” are required to fill in for their staffers when they need to use the lavatory facilities, so as to ensure that the required level of production is maintained and to reduce the likelihood of bottlenecks.
It was been suggested to this publication that staff members have been refused unscheduled bathroom breaks either because the line leaders are incapable of filling in or they simply do not feel the need to fill in.
The factory has been engaged in its inventory exercise over the weekend into today (Nov. 17) and employees would be required to work from 1:00 p.m. today until 6:00 p.m. The complaint was that the 4:15p.m. to 6:00 p.m. period is considered “overtime” and workers should not be “mandated” to work overtime.
SKNVibes took these and other complaints to Plant Manager Rich Wagner and, while he initially opted not to comment on Lutron’s behalf, he eventually addressed the concerns.
Wagner was asked on a number of occasions if the staff were “mandated” to produce at the same level as if the lines were fully-staffed, and while he did not give a definitive answer he noted that maintenance of that level of production with decreased staff is not “expected”.
“We want to work as efficiently as possible to maximise output. We maximise output based on the people we have. We certainly wouldn’t expect them to produce at the same level as if the line were fully-staffed. Every day we need to adjust output based on the number of persons we have out on sick-leave and vacation etc.”
He dismissed as false the allegation that staffers are being denied unscheduled bathroom breaks.
“We do not prevent anyone from going to the bathroom. We have breaks, but if someone needs to go to the restroom we would allow them to go. Certainly those types of concerns we want to address.”
Concerning the 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. workday for today, Wagner indicated it was implemented to satisfy both their customers, who would receive their products, and the company’s staff who would receive a wage for that day.
He also explained that the “overtime” argument does not stand because “it is not considered overtime unless it falls outside of a 40-hour work week, which is does not”.
SKNVibes contacted the Labour Department which confirmed Wagner’s statement.
The Plant Manager promised SKNVibes that he appreciates hearing about the concerns of his staff and advised that they could freely approach him or the supervisors if they have any problem.
This media house was however told that several staff members prefer not approach neither the Plant Manager nor the supervisors with matters affecting them as previous attempts have resulted in little or no improvement.
This publication has since learnt that Lutron’s staff – outside of those who are specifically involved in the inventory process – were reportedly “given the day off” and would not be paid for the day.
