WATCH: Firefighter ends protest on HWT Transport Centre
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Firefighter sergeant Leo Bennett made his way down the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre to applause and shouts of praise as his one-man protest came to an end on Tuesday afternoon.
Outlining a list of demands against the background of alleged ill-treatment of Jamaica Fire Brigade staff, whose welfare he said was being ignored, Bennett climbed atop the St Andrew landmark sometime after 6 in the morning to stage the demonstration.
READ: WATCH: Militant firefighter lists demands amid protest atop HWT Transport Centre
He claimed firefighters are working shifts everyday and have no time to adequately balance their jobs and their lives. As such, he is pleading with the management of the Brigade to offer time off for workers.
“The Jamaica Fire Brigade members, we have a system of work which we must be at work every day of our lives. It is terrible. What we are asking the management for is a work system in which we can get some time off and work life balance,” he said.
“That would translate to you, the public, getting a better service. The general welfare for us [firefighters]…each member is given one gear. When we go to fire site, let me say Kintyre dump, New Haven (illegal dumping sites)…when you have like asbestos materials burning, a lot of medical wastes are put there, burn it and when that gets on the one tunic, there is no facility at the Half-Way-Tree Fire Station or anywhere else to cleanse that,” Bennett added.
In addition, Bennett claimed that firefighters are given only one work gear, which has to be used daily.
“We must then take that gear (home), see the thickness of the gear, how will you get that to dry? You don’t live next to the station…we take it home, what must we do? Pack it into the same machine as (clothes for) my four-year-old son or my wife and expose them to cancer because of the material,” he said.
In May of last year, Bennett was among placard-bearing firefighters who demonstrated outside the Ministry of Labour and Social Security at National Heroes Circle in Kingston. Bennett confirmed that he and six other members of the Jamaica Fire Brigade were suspended for their action.
