By Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner WriterSENATOR DWIGHT Nelson, vice-president of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), has confirmed his candidacy for the presidency of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU).
Senator Nelson, already a vice-president of the umbrella trade union organisation, has been nominated by the BITU for the presidency of the JCTU.
If elected at the JCTU Congress on May 9, he will succeed Hugh Shearer, the veteran trade unionist and former Prime Minister, who remains the titular head of the BITU, though he has effectively retired from public life.
VAST EXPERIENCE
Asked about his readiness for the task of leading the trade union movement, Senator Nelson cited, among other things, his vast experience, including two stints as chairman of the Joint Trade Unions Research and Development Centre (the organisation which preceded the JCTU).
More recently he emerged as the leading spokesperson for the trade unions in the negotiations with Government, leading to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to guide public sector wage settlements for the next two years.
Given that experience, he told The Gleaner that his BITU colleagues were convinced that he was the right man for the job.
"The union is convinced that leadership of the confederation must be leadership that is able to think and approach its objectives with a very broad-based, open mind and not hamstrung by a philosophy or political constraints," he said.
With Hugh Shearer, the founding president of the JCTU, being a member of the BITU, knowledgeable observers had raised the likelihood of the next president emerging from the National Workers' Union (NWU), the second major founding member of the JCTU.
When contacted, a senior member of the NWU would only say that his union was interested in arriving at a consensus candidate.
Asked whether that ruled out the NWU putting forward its own candidate, he declined to give a firm commitment.
The idea of consensus candidate selection is one supported wholeheartedly by Dwight Nelson, who is hoping that all major positions in the confederation will be settled ahead of the May 9 Congress.
The JCTU's membership now includes most recognised trade unions in the country, including such professional groups as the Jamaica Civil Service Association, the Jamaica Teachers' Association and the Nurses Association of Jamaica.
