SUPERVISORY AND non-supervisory staff at the National Water Commission islandwide have issued a one-week ultimatum to the management to address concerns over parity with other utilities workers.
Failure to respond satisfactorily, they say, will result in industrial action.
A spokesman for the NWC said yesterday that if the unions carried out their threat, "it would be extremely difficult for the Commission to maintain the service islandwide."
There are more than 2,000 unionised workers at the NWC and they are represented by the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, the National Workers' Union, the Jamaica Union of Public Officers and Public Employees, the Jamaica Association of Local Govern-ment Officers as well as the NWC Executive Staff Associ-ation.
The unions decided last year to throw out a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which had been in effect since 1999, claiming that it was not beneficial to the employees. The MOU stipulated that there would be no negotiations for improvements in pay and fringe benefits during a three-year period ending this year, and no redundancies.
The talks broke down on Wednesday, after the NWC informed the unions that to meet their claims, several workers would have to be made redundant.
"We didn't mince our words after they made that threat. It was an insult after two years of no pay increases. They were very rude and if they don't meet the deadline, we will lock down every NWC operation in Jamaica come next week," Granville Valentine, NWU spokesman, said yesterday.
Charles Buchanan, NWC public relations manager, said he was unable to comment on the matter, as he was not aware of the details of the meeting.
The basis of the dispute is the unions' claim that because of the ground lost by the employees in terms of pay since 1998, they should be given a 20 per cent pay adjustment to fill the gap between them and other utility workers, as well as a 10 per cent pay increase this year and a further 10 per cent next year.
Also, the unions want 12 weeks maternity leave with pay, and a $150-per-day discomfort allowance for working in certain conditions.
