Workers at Thetford Park Cemetery in Church Pen, Old Harbour, St Catherine, have expressed frustration about what they describe as poor management and inadequate working conditions, and say they will again take industrial action if there is no improvement.

According to the workers, they were forced to take industrial action last month in protest against inadequate pay, inconsistent pay cycles, less than appealing working conditions, and improper gear to conduct burials at the Government-operated cemetery.

“The cemetery nah run good, that ah the number one thing. We want some more workers over here. Look at the place, it look like nobody nuh over here a work, but we are working. We are doing a lot of hard work. We would need more money same way because we ah do all three people work,” one worker told the Jamaica Observer.

The 25-acre public cemetery, operated by the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, opened in 2018 in response to the need for additional burial space in the parish.

When the Sunday Observer visited the burial ground on April 10, it was an open dirt field with graves towards the back and side of the property. The graves were placed within close proximity with name tags used as temporary headstones for the deceased, and flowers placed by loved ones scattered above. Workers were also on site digging graves.

The worker said that oftentimes the same men who tend to the beautification of the grounds would be pulled into conducting burials and the construction of graves due to limited staff, resulting in a less than appealing space. They shared that this especially occurs on weekends when 20 to 30 burials are being done.

According to the workers, approximately six men are needed to bury a body. However, in most cases they say they are limited to four workers to conduct one burial.

“You need four men on the board to receive the casket, you need two men to mix [the cement] and you need men to carry buckets of water. You need men to lock the graves. If four of us are doing the funeral and four of us have to be on the board, two will have to leave from the board come mix the stuff, carry water and lock the grave,” the worker explained.

He said this arrangement becomes particularly challenging on the weekends when there are multiple funerals at the same time.

“If the funeral them come down on us one time, we can’t get any rest. We have to wait until them done. So, if we have 10 funerals and the 10 funerals come, we have to do the whole 10 till it done. We can’t get a break. We can’t make the hearse them park up and then we go sit down because they are going to pile up on us. So we actually have to just do it till everything done then we can get a break,” another worker said, adding that family members often argue about the wait time to bury their loved ones.

Another worker also expressed frustration with payment, claiming that on several occasions they have been paid late with little to no notice.

“We don’t get paid on time. Say a fortnight we a work to get pay, we a wait all three weeks before [we get pay],” the worker said, adding that the pay they receive is inadequate for the work they do.

“For a place weh a make money, the workers must alright and nice. A suffer we deh yah a suffer,” another worker told the Sunday Observer.

The workers said they took industrial action last month due to these and other issues. They said that their protest led to a meeting with the municipal corporation at which they were promised better pay, proper gear and improved working conditions by May. However, the workers say they are not hopeful these promises will be kept.

“We talk to them about it but you know, a just empty promises and one bag ah talking, talking business, so I can’t say anything unless I see action and we not seeing any action,” said one worker.

“If them nuh do it we a go strike again,” another worker added. His colleagues nodded in agreement.

Mayor Norman Scott, chairman of the the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, when contacted by the Sunday Observer said he was not aware of the meeting about which the workers spoke and had no knowledge of inadequate gear for the employees.

Asked about the claims of a shortage of workers, Scott said, “I can’t comment on persons saying they are overworked. We have adequate amount of staff to do the work that is being done there.”

Other complaints aired by the workers include lack of an adequate staff quarters where they can rest, leave their personal belongings and shower after conducting burials.

“We don’t have gear, we don’t have changing room. We have a bathroom, but that is the bathroom the everybody uses,” one worker told the Sunday Observer.

The worker explained that the bathroom on the compound is for funeral guests and there are no separate quarters for the workers.

The workers said they have to resort to leaving their personal items in a container which houses cement and other tools for work.

“We don’t have a fan. If we want too lay down, seh we a take a five, a inna the sun or go under there si,” he said, pointing to the main building.