Unions Calling on Parents to Monitor Hygiene in Schools.

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Marigot:--- Nicole Whit of the UCT/UGTG issued an urgent call to all parents that have children attending schools on the French side to monitor the foods that are being distributed at school canteens. Whit made the statements in reaction to the press release sent out by the President of the Collectivity who said that meat and sausages were outside defrosting since Friday last week to be used on Monday and Tuesday. Whit who is also an employee of the Cuisine Central said they never had to take meat out that long to defrost at the old kitchen. "Defrosting meat that long can cause bacteria which would make children sick. As a union we have been trying to address the hygiene conditions at the central kitchen for some time now and those responsible are not taking us seriously."
A press release from the President of the Collectivity states that on Monday no sandwiches were delivered to any school restaurant since the delivery vehicles that were parked in the parking lot of the building, were blocked by CTOS strikers.
On Tuesday 20 September 2011, two vehicles were available, and the distribution of sandwiches started at 10:00am.
This solution turned out to be the only alternative, on account of the defrosting time of the raw material, especially meat. President Gumbs said he would like to inform the general public that the strike by the CTOS turned out to be very costly.

Last Friday at twelve (on 16 September) they deposited in the defrosting cold storage 31 cases of sausage, and 530 kg of lamb.
The sausages had to be served on Monday, the meat had to be seasoned and allowed to marinate for cooking on Tuesday.
The defrosting time having reached a critical level (more than 72 hours), the totality of the two services had to be destroyed. This corresponds exactly to a loss of 4 534.20 €.
The President said they are also recording a loss of income of about 16 000 € per day, which really amounts to 32 000 € in connection with the absence of sale of canteen tickets on Monday (no meal) and Tuesday (sandwiches).
Tuesday 20 September, more than 4 200 sandwiches were distributed for a total cost of 6 300 €.
If those figures are added together, today this strike costs us the sum of 42 834 €.
It is to be also noted that a new vat (or tank) was delivered on Tuesday afternoon; it will be tested if everything goes well tomorrow. Meanwhile, the kitchen is connected to 4 bottles of gas.
Whit also said on Tuesday that the unions sent a letter to the President of the Collectivity requesting a meeting and to date the President has not responded. "So far we still don't have an appointment with the President for a meeting," Whit said.
The union representative said the President said the CTOS lost money on Tuesday but she would like to know why there was no food on Tuesday for the schools. "We went back to work since Monday and the cooks who said they don't have a problem and wanted to work on Monday need to tell us why they did not cook and why sandwiches were served on Tuesday."