One day after the union representing casino, members’ clubs and lottery workers lamented that 2,500 workers have been without any source of income for over two months because they could not access the Salary Relief Grants, Minister of Finance Colm Imbert has indicated that they will be allowed to apply for the grants.
Taking to his Twitter page yesterday, in an apparent response to an exclusive Guardian Media story on the workers’ plights, Minister Imbert said, “We are adjusting the qualifying date for May 2021 SRGs to April 29th as the date on which Notice was given of Suspension/Loss of Employment, with Loss of Employment effective from April 30th. This will allow employees of bars, restaurants, Casinos etc to qualify for the May SRG.”
He added, “Legal Notice No. 121, dated April 29, 2021, effective April 30, 2021 lists the affected entities, such as pre-schools ECCEs, day-care centres, water parks, amusement parks, bars, restaurants, street vending, clubs, dancehalls, theatres, gaming houses, betting offices, gyms etc...”
The Union of Member Clubs and Lottery workers told Guardian Media many of their members, mainly single mothers, were facing tough times since they could not acess the grants because they weren’t sent home before May 1, as it fell outside the timeframe stipulated for citizens to access the relief.