Officials of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, will meet today to discuss the dismissals of the Palms administrator and five other staff members.

Staff at the Brickdam old-age home are currently staging a sit-in organised by the GPSU after the Administrator, Justina McKinnon, and five other employees were dismissed for their part in a July 4 protest where they refused entry to Minister Dale Bisnauth and other officials.

The other sacked employees are nurses Fabian Brewster and Bridget Odell, Dion Jones (a nurse’s aide) and Gemme Hinds and Christine Barlow, a seamstress and a maid, respectively.

But the union has since received information which suggests the ministry may withdraw its dismissal letter to Brewster, who has a medical certificate indicating she was on sick leave at the time of the July 4 protest, GPSU Research Officer Chandrawattie Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday.

Brewster’s medical certificate covered a period of 28 days and was dated July 2, Persaud said, while noting that nothing formal had been issued to confirm a possible withdrawal of Brewster’s dismissal.

In May, several staff members including nurses, initiated industrial action at the government owned home for elderly Guyanese, in protest over their working conditions. The Ministry of Labour had intervened and held a meeting with union officials in an effort to determine terms of resumption, but this process was never completed.

Persaud said the ministry failed to respond adequately, despite numerous attempts by the union to contact the ministry for the process to be completed in an amicable manner.

The group of protesting workers had complained about the non-payment of uniform allowances, poor electrical and sanitary facilities, ineffective security and the lack of proper food for residents. The ministry responded by saying that adequate amounts of food and cleaning supplies had been allocated.

The incident which triggered the dismissals occurred when Minister Bisnauth, Permanent Secretary Phulander Kandhi and other ministry officials went to the Palms to install an interim management committee. At the time, the protesting group had told this newspaper they were unaware of the ministry’s intention to install the committee and denied “physically” blocking the team’s entry into the building.