THE BARBADOS Workers’ Union (BWU) has been asked to reopen discussions with the National Conservation Commission (NCC) over the termination of nearly 200 employees – rather than wait for the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) to rule on the matter.
The recommendation was reportedly made by the union’s bargaining committee at NCC yesterday afternoon during a meeting with BWU general secretary Sir Roy Trotman at the union’s Harmony Hall, St Michael complex.
Sir Roy, in casual dress, wearing a neck brace that reminded of his recent surgery, and walking gingerly, emerged from the two-hour meeting to tell reporters it was just a committee meeting dealing with NCC matters.
He did not go into details, but reported that the union would be meeting NCC workers next Monday to brief them on the latest developments concerning “the unfortunate layoffs”.
However, usually reliable sources reported that the union’s NCC delegates had given the BWU until next Monday to decide whether it would try to settle the row over retrenchment outside the ERT.
The thinking was that the matter could be settled quicker outside the tribunal, given some “correcting” reportedly made by the NCC to the list of retrenched workers, according to the sources who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
The sources said that it could take the tribunal some time to settle the matter, while the BWU and the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) should be able to resolve it without long, drawn-out procedures, in view of the NCC’s adjustments to the list ahead of the tribunal’s recent meeting.
It was important to settle the matter speedily because a number of retrenched workers were yet to receive unemployment benefits, being told that this could not happen before the tribunal ruled on the case, according to the sources.
One point made by them was that the tribunal operated like a court: it would give decisions based on law, but not necessarily the ones sought by workers.
It was in late May that Prime Minister Freundel Stuart announced that the dispute between two unions and the NCC?had been referred to the tribunal and that body had been asked to treat the matter with urgency.
The tribunal had a preliminary meeting earlier this month but is yet to start public hearings.
The sources said that at yesterday’s meeting, the BWU delegates also criticised the union’s handling of the NCC debacle, saying the representation was not as robust as it should have been.
The BWU and the NUPW have had a number of joint negotiating sessions with the NCC management over the layoffs, part of a series across statutory corporations and Government offices demanded by the Stuart administration in a bid to reduce the huge gap between state spending and revenue. (TY)
