Melanius Alphonse.
PRESS RELEASE - If protecting property and lives is the rationale for posting security guards at both private and public businesses throughout the island, then the time has come to offer fair and adequate compensation to these individuals.
This call comes from Melanius Alphonse of the Lucian People’s Movement (LPM), who laments the extremely low wages paid to workers operating within the security industry.
He adds that while the compensation offered to security guards lags behind that of most other employees in the country, there seems to be a lack of economic sense on the part of employers, who are currently oblivious to the fact that these men and women are unable to feed themselves and their families on such low wages.
According to Alphonse, “In this dangerous environment in which an increase in armed robberies and break-ins is occurring throughout the island, you cannot ask people to risk their lives to protect business and property and then turn around and offer them EC$5.00 an hour for compensation. There must be an immediate review of the pay structure for security guards to bring it on par with that of most workers in the nation.”
Alphonse has called upon the government of Saint Lucia to hasten the delivery of its 2011 electoral promises, which were supposed to make life better for all citizens. He states that until the government of Saint Lucia comes to its senses and accepts that the promises made have remained largely unfulfilled, there can be no relief for the workers of this country.