A group of workers from the Energy Company Suriname (EBS) on Monday rallied in the Saramaccastraat. They formed a human barricade in front of the power plant that is located in the Saramaccastraat to express their disapproval with management’s decision to introduce a new wage structure as of July 1 without the union’s consent. The OWOS, the  union that represents the workers at the EBS, organized a union meeting on Monday morning. Rishidath Mathoera, secretary at the union, told the union members  that management did not discuss the new wage structure with union officials. Management also failed to share the new wage structure with the union. The union also criticized management for not having signed the social protocol. The union members slammed management for the fact that they have been asking for a new wage structure for the past 12 years but that management suddenly has the money to hire contractors to get the job done. “The executives have many dollars to pay the contractors so they  could have opted to negotiate with the union so that we could get back to work,” said a worker. The police repeatedly asked the workers to disperse and the workers complied after the third time. The workers then decided to assemble in front of the gates of the power plant located in the Saramaccastraat. The union issued a strike when union chairman Marciano Hellings was given the boot over a month ago…[+]