There may be no Christmas cheer for the scores of employees of the Barbados-based University of the West Indies Open campus who have been informed that due continuing financial difficulties there is no money to pay them this month.

The Open Campus has around 500 staff at sites around the region but Starcom Network News has been told that the St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago is assisting with paying staff in that country, while governments of the various islands are said to be assisting with payments to staff at the OECS site.

Principal of the Open Campus Dr. Francis Severin says the institution is working diligently to resolve the matter and that he will provide an update shortly.

The Democratic Labour Party’s spokesperson on labour and social relations, Courie Cox, has issued a statement on the matter calling on government to intervene

Mr. Cox is calling for swift government intervention, as he believes workers should be paid before Christmas.