If the grave diggers hired to dig graves, can hire someone to dig a grave for a fraction of what they are being paid then the SSA have a real GRAVE problem on their hands. The grave diggers believe that they are reducing unemployment by hiring others to do the job, So why can’t the SSA hire those people at the rate they are being paid and fire the over paid grave diggers. That would save the government and taxpayers some money. Is it that the grave diggers are overpaid? Are other Government departments being run this way. This is a blatant slap in the government’s face. Are they going to take it and do nothing? Are the unions in control Barbados?

@ David isn’t this the same Ricky Cummins who was charged with illegally selling SSA graves? has the charges been dismissed? if not how come is he still at work and not on half pay leave as is the norm?

What we have here is the gravediggers, surprisingly supported by the union, demonstrating against a supervisor who has run the cemetery like his plaything.

In the absence of leadership from the ministry the gravediggers are attempting to deal with the matter in a way which makes sense to THEM.

@in need of guidance | August 30, 2011 at 6:28 AM |
“… isn’t this the same Ricky Cummins who was charged with illegally selling SSA graves…? if not how come is he still at work and not on half pay leave as is the norm?”

u have accused him of being already tried and found guilty. before u make such statements, seek first to ascertain what was the outcome. what cummins is doing is right. those SSA workers should be fired and the persons who worked under sub-contract should be hired, paid maybe $200 per grave and taxpayers would be happy. thieving occurs all over barbados, something has to be wrong.

It is easy to criticize the actions of the grave diggers but what might Cummins have done to pissoff these people?

bk wrote on August 30, 2011 at 8:59 AM |” Two wrongs don’t make a right, but to hell with the Union. I would fire the whole lot, supervisor, and staff. I am sure that they are persons out there who are looking for a job, and would have no problem being a grave digger.”

I second that.

many among you will have your say, but how many of you are willing to do the job? We look down at grave diggers and garbage collectors are sometimes less than human, but without them a society is in “grave” danger. That job is not easy and the conditions these workers operate under is unhealthy, what needs to be changed is the method used for digging and covering graves. In a modern society, why not use a small excavator to dig the grave and cover it? In most first world countries, the comittal is done, wreaths placed and pictures taken, then after the mourners have left, the cover is removed and the grave filled, then the wreaths replaced Time we move to that level, already Coral Ridge has adapted that method, government run cemeteries should follow

Imagine an officer in the Police Force, paying a person to perform his duty, or a nurse at QEH doing the same.
Perhaps the Government could save a lot of money and embarrassment ,by subcontracting the grave digging business to JCB back hoe owners.
A $1000 to dig a grave? and we are complaining about the price of fuel and electricity? These grave diggers /Soil Technicians are making sure that “you can’t tek it with you.”

Putting aside the minutiae of the current SSA situation, are we using a different yardstick for sub-contracting when it applies to grave-diggers as compared with when it is applied to mechanics or doctors or lawyers or roadside cleaners or lorry drivers or landscapers or ….? Should’nt grave diggers be allowed to get properly designed above board contracts from the SSA and subcontract them to paid workers to ensure various effieciencies, timeliness, etc? As long as the contracts are reasonable?