Finance and Planning Minister Dr. Omar Davies (left), confers with William Reeson, president of the Kiwanis Club of Kingston at the Hilton Hotel, New Kingston yesterday. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer TODAY'S FIRST meeting of the Labour Advisory Committee (LAC), the tripartite body which helps to draft the Government's labour policies, has been postponed because of a boycott against Ministry of Labour meetings announced by the trade unions yesterday.
In a statement last night, Minister of Labour and Social Security, Horace Dalley, said that he had postponed the meeting in light
of the unions' action and will,
instead, invite both the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) and the Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF), which represents employers, to an early meeting to discuss their concerns and his plans to restructure the Ministry.
The Minister admitted that the labour market reform process has been proceeding slowly and he was aiming at consensus to accelerate the reform process. He said that some aspects of the reform were well advanced.
The LAC is comprised of representatives of the Ministry, the trade unions and employers and meets regularly to seek consensus on major industrial relations issues, including labour market reform.
This morning's meeting would have resumed talks on a number of major labour market reform issues, including flexible work hours, a National Productivity Centre, a social contract, job creation and pension reform.
In a statement yesterday, the JCTU said the Ministry was incapable of providing the necessary level of assistance to parties engaged in industrial disputes and has been referring disputes, "en passant" (in passing) to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT).
"We are concerned that the functionaries within this department continue to fail to provide any semblance of guidance to both employers and employees who are forced to appear there. Settlement of disputes at this level has proven an impossibility in recent times," the statement said.
The unions noted as examples - the parity issue involving Government medical technologists as well as the job evaluation and pay dispute at the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), claiming that the Ministry failed to provide "guidance" to the parties on both occasions making settlement of the disputes impossible. They said that they would boycott all meetings at the Ministry. The statement was signed by JCTU vice-presidents Dwight Nelson and Hopeton Caven, general secretary Lloyd Goodleigh and assistant general secretary Keith Comrie.
The unions have suggested that the sudden departure of the Ministry's most expert adviser, Anthony Irons, a former Permanent Secretary in October, 2002 has left a void in its industrial relations department. Mr. Irons has since been recruited as a special adviser to Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Portia Simpson Miller, a former Minister of Labour and Social Security, herself.
Minister Dalley admitted last night that the loss of Mr. Irons was a major blow but said
he did not agree with the Confederation's assessment of his conciliatory team.
"I have a high regard for the Confederation, but I just can't agree with their assessment of our industrial relations department. The loss of Tony Irons is a blow, but life has to go on. It is the same department I inherited three months ago, except for him, and people have to rise to the challenge," he said.
He said that he met the trade unions just after taking office and nobody had complained then about the department. He added that he was hoping to meet the JCTU this week to discuss their concerns.
But, Mr. Dalley's decision to refer the job evaluation and pay dispute at the JPSCo to the IDT yesterday did not help the matter.
National Workers Union president Clive Dobson felt it was another example of the failings of the Ministry. He said that it was Mr. Dalley who had proposed to send the matter to a private panel of arbitrators. The union had been requested to name a representative and had nominated Dr. Trevor Hamilton. But, the Minister has changed his mind since and sent the matter to the IDT, yesterday without informing the unions.
Mr. Dalley said yesterday he had sent the dispute to the IDT, "because I cannot undermine the integrity of the IDT by referring every little dispute to a special tribunal".
