In accordance with the agreement, workers are to be given six weeks' pay for each year of service they have acquired with LINMINE, with a maximum of 104 weeks and an additional ten per cent of their total redundancy package as a training grant.

The following are some views that were elicited from LINMINE workers by the Government Information Agency (GINA):

Ralph Carmichael, Acting Supervisor, Machinery Department said, "I feel good about my package, in that it is tax free, and I will have all that the company has for me. I'm still young, and I think I have enough energy to continue to go on. Once there's life, there's hope."

David Joseph, Machinist, Machine shop said, "I think it is a reasonable offer. That's the way negotiations go. Some persons have different feelings because they believe that the cut-off point at 104 week robs them of the rest of their service they would have attained. But, in general, I think it is a reasonable package, taking into consideration the present state of the economy, and when you compare it with what other persons receive."

Claude McKenzie, Industrial Training Assistant said, "I am grateful for what they are offering, but I would have been happier to know that the long-service workers were getting a larger percentage."

Despite some sentiments of being shortchanged, as was expressed by other long-serving workers at LINMINE, President of the GBGWU, Charles Sampson said he believes the separation package being paid out to workers is the best ever between any company and the Administration.

"It was good in the sense that the non-management workers had their redundancy packages bettered by 110 per cent; people in the other categories did not benefit to that extent", Sampson said.

He contended that the LINMINE separation package is a better deal than that arrived at for the BERMINE workers, for which LINMINE workers should be thankful.

Touching on the maximum ceiling of 17 years for the separation pay packages, the GBGWU President said some level of flexibility has to be exercised in negotiations. Perhaps, he said, an unlimited ceiling will be arrived at in a few years' time.