A "very concerned citizen'' yesterday slammed the MarketPlace grocery store for not recognising the value of their human resources -- the staff.

And the irate woman called on MarketPlace managers to take a course in supervisory management to teach them how to treat employees.

Janis Ellott wrote a letter to The Royal Gazette complaining about the treatment of workers after her godson -- a MarketPlace employee at the Shopping Centre branch -- attended a meeting where it was announced that six new foreign staff members had been hired.

Mrs. Ellott claimed that the positions had not been advertised, and questioned why foreign labour had to be imported to "unfreeze a cake'' -- since most of the fresh-baked goods are made in the US and shipped to Bermuda.

And she questioned: "Are these practices going completely unnoticed by our own Government, who are allowing these people to enter our country under false pretences, or do the owners have friends in very high places?'' Mrs. Ellott also claimed that staff members were told not to bring any spouse that happened to work for any of MarketPlace's competition.

The numbers of hours cashiers spent on their feet also concerned Mrs. Ellot, who wanted to know why cashiers were not allowed to sit on stools to help prevent varicose veins.

"They are not impressing their customers or anyone else by standing for hours at a time. We don't give a hoot if they are on stools -- as human beings, we would like them to be a bit comfortable,'' she stated.

And Mrs. Ellott said that she was concerned about grocery packers -- many of whom are school children who relied on tips for income -- who were expected to wear their school shoes to work.

She said: "It's one step forward, two steps back when forced to wear the very clothes they are packing groceries trying to purchase.'' "When witnessing the rude treatment handed by (the manager) to one of the packers, I'm prompted to say there is a course in the Bermuda College called Supervisory Management -- look it up! "It takes two years, but all your managers, including yourself could benefit from it. It will teach you how valuable your human resources are and how to treat them.'' A MarketPlace spokesman yesterday said the company did not wish to comment.