Construction workers strike after payroll robbery – but bosses stump up late in day

Furious workers at a major construction site on Tuesday downed tools after an armed payroll heist by three masked men meant they did not get paid.

But late in the day management at the site came through with at least some of the cash owed – which meant that work will restart on Wednesday as usual.

One worker at the site, who asked not to be named, said on Tuesday night, “We have been paid – but not fully. It’s about 70 per cent.

“We got a call earlier and I just came back – we had been waiting for our money, so it was good to get at least some of it.”

Another employee said earlier in the day, “We’re angry. We live paycheck to paycheck – we don’t get paid, we don’t eat.”

The strike started after three thieves, one with a firearm, struck in a side car park at the Commercial Centre on Eastern Avenue, which houses the Hyatt Residences site office, at about 3:50pm on Monday.

They robbed a site employee of what police said was “a large quantity of money” earmarked for wages.

The men, who also stole a cell phone, escaped in a Honda CR-V SUV along Eastern Avenue after the robbery.

Construction staff at the West Bay Road Hyatt construction site said they were told by bosses that they were unable to say when they would get the cash owed.

The news came after another tenant in the Commercial Centre said he was at the building just after 5pm and saw police and the man who had been robbed in the car park.

He added, “I saw the police and the person who got robbed. He was still downstairs. It happened in the car park. That’s what I heard.”

One construction worker said on Monday morning their employer should have been able to pay the staff, despite the robbery.

He added, “The salary’s not enough anyway and they’re taking too long to pay us.”

Two other men said they were due to start work on Tuesday, but had been told to come back on Wednesday instead.

Police said later that officers who examined the area recovered the phone and a later search found the getaway vehicle.

One worker confirmed that workers had gone on strike in protest at the failure to be paid on time.

He added, “They weren’t sure when we would be paid. It could be a week and that is not acceptable.”

A security guard at the construction site said the site manager was “too busy” to be interviewed.

Workers in hard hats and high-visibility vests stood around the entrance to the site and at the bottom of the huge under-construction building.

A single police car and a lone officer were also inside the site gate, but there was no sign of trouble and the gathering remained peaceful.

The site office is on the first floor of the Commercial Centre. Police said no one was injured during the incident.

Police said efforts to trace the three involved in the robbery continued and appealed for witnesses.

Developers Pageant Beach Hotel Ltd and contractor Americaribe have been contacted for comment.

The 7.1 acre Hyatt Residences will feature a total of 190 hotel guestrooms, 88 condo-hotel guestrooms, and 76 one, two, and three-bedroom condo-hotel suites, priced from US1 million to US10 million, when completed.