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Receivership fires driver – Novelo?s cousin – after 30 years of service!

GeneralReceivership fires driver - Novelo?s cousin - after 30 years of service!


Novelo?s is under receivership, and the management, represented by Kevin Castillo and general manager Robert Garcia, refused to go to speak with the workers in Benque.


The upshot of the standoff was that a worker was fired. On Monday, Castillo, and earlier today, Gaylene Tesecum, the receivership?s spokesperson, had said that those on strike did not have to worry about their jobs. Despite this, Ramon Vaca, 45, received his termination letter late tonight.


Vaca, who is a cousin of the Novelo family, has spent the last 30 years in their employment. He worked his way up from a bus conductor to a supervisor, until the receivership took over in March and demoted him to a MCI [express bus] driver.


Vaca?s letter says that the company ?needs honest and trustworthy MCI workers who are prepared to go the extra mile to ensure that commuters? needs are met.?


The letter further suggested that Vaca could not do that because of his decision to participate in the strike today. Vaca was scheduled to drive the 4:00 a.m. express from Benque to Belize City.


The newspaper managed to speak to Tesecum, who said that the only scheduled runs from Benque to Belize City that were affected by the strike were the 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. buses, and all other buses ran on schedule.


The workers? representative, Jose Villanueva, a Benque bus driver who was on strike today, verified that the bus company?s manager of the Benque office briefly spoke to the employees on strike. The manager reportedly asked the employees to resume their scheduled runs while the issues of severance pay for WTL workers and the newly implemented rotation in the bus runs were being worked out.


Villanueva, however, said that they decided to not give in to the manager?s request and continued their strike.


Periodic checks throughout the day showed that all was quiet in Benque, as the workers on strike did not try to incite any violence.


The receivership management?s response to the strike was to dispatch buses from Belize City to replace those that were not making the scheduled runs from Benque to Belize City.


While the disgruntled employees were reportedly only ?hanging? around the Novelo?s Benque compound, by mid-afternoon the air in their bus tires had been let out. The culprit, according to Villanueva, is unbeknownst to those on strike.


When Amandala spoke to Tesecum, she was unaware of the situation, but after placing a call to Benque, it was confirmed that the air had indeed been let out of several tires on their parked buses.


Tesecum noted that the receivership maintains its position as stated in its press release from Monday, which said that the receivership management was not in possession of the proper documents that could indicate who is responsible for the WTL workers? severance pay. The issue became a point of contention because the receivership management refused to pay the proper severance pay to those workers who had been working a long time with Novelo?s, before the company came under different management when it began buying out other bus lines.


On Monday, the WTL workers were also alleging that the receivership was not paying its Social Security contributions since it took over management of Novelo?s Bus Line Limited in March of this year.


The allegations were made after two WTL employees had resigned in June because of their discontent with the receivership?s treatment toward them. Amandala has obtained a copy of a letter that the Social Security Board sent to one of the two employees. When these two employees sought to collect their severance pay, it was then that the conundrum of who was responsible for the workers? severance pay came to light.


The letter shows the history of the contributions that Novelo?s made on the employee?s behalf from 1986 to June 2004. It shows that the bus company made a total of 8 contributions between January and June 2004. It further states, ?Please note that statements are outstanding for the following Employers: Novelo?s for the period January to June 2004.? (The name ?Novelo?s? was highlighted in the letter).


In response to the letter, Tesecum pointed out that the receivership has been meeting its financial obligations since taking over management of Novelo?s Bus Line Limited in March of this year, which includes its Social Security contributions, income tax, and the company?s fuel bill.


She also noted that prior to Novelo?s entering into receivership, it had an outstanding Social Security debt of $76,767.00, which still has not been paid. According to Tesecum, the receivership has an arrangement with Social Security Board that the outstanding debt will be paid whenever the company is sold.


Amandala was reliably informed that even if the receivership wanted to assume the responsibility of the WTL workers? severance pay, they are not in a financial position to do so. Our source said that even though the receivership has been meeting its financial obligations since assuming management of the company, they assumed sizeable debts that will take a long time to pay off.


The newspaper was informed that the Minister of Transport and Housing, Hon. Cordel Hyde, has been briefed on the situation as it relates to the WTL workers, in a meeting with the receiver, Kevin Castillo, and the general manager, Robert Garcia, late this evening.


Hyde told Amandala that his Ministry plans to keep abreast of the situation as it develops. He said that his Ministry?s main concern is that the public transportation services are uninterrupted while the issues are being worked out.


He also noted that even though the Ministry of Transportation is concerned itself with the matter, the main issues that need to be worked out are labor issues.


Hyde agreed that the workers are entitled to their severance pay; however, he noted that he was not in a position to say who is responsible for paying the severance pay of the WTL workers.


The Commissioner of Transportation, along with transportation officers, is expected to be in Benque tomorrow to monitor the situation, Hyde said, and their principal function is to ensure that ?nobody is left on the roadside.?


Villanueva told Amandala that the Commissioner of Police, Carmen Zetina, tried to set up a meeting between the WTL workers and the receivership, through Robert Garcia. Zetina told Villanueva that Garcia had refused to meet with the WTL workers, so he had to go ?higher.?


Zetina reportedly spoke to Kevin Castillo, who has agreed to meet with Villanueva, the WTL?s representative.


Both groups, the receivership management and the WTL workers, are scheduled to meet at the Blake building on Gabourel Lane in Belize City with their respective lawyers.


While the newspaper does not know who is the lawyer for the receivership, the lawyers who have offered the WTL workers their services, are Hon. Dean Barrow and Hubert Elrington.


At press time, the WTL workers were extremely upset over Vaca?s termination letter, and were not certain whether they would attend the meeting tomorrow morning. Villanueva did say, however, that they are still trying to reach a peaceful resolution, without any acts of violence.

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