By Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
Patterson
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson will meet with trade union representatives today in an attempt to end a stand-off between the unions and Labour Minister, Horace Dalley.
The trade unions had requested the meeting with the Prime Minister after their latest dispute with the minister, triggered by the fining of 20 medical technologists in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court last month. The technologists were each fined $3,000 per breach for disobeying an order of the Indus-trial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) to resume work.
The trade unions in retaliation threatened to boycott the Labour Advisory Committee (LAC) meeting that was scheduled for last month. Subsequently, the LAC meeting
had to be postponed because according to the labour ministry, union representatives had said they were unavailable.
According to Danny Roberts, vice president of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), some of the issues on the agenda of this morning's meeting are the roles and functions of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the workplace policy on HIV/AIDS, the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), among other things.
A delegation of some six union representatives including Senator Dwight Nelson, president of the JCTU, the four vice presidents, Danny Roberts, Hopeton Caven, Helen Davis-White and Wayne Jones are expected to be at that meeting. The Gleaner was told that minister Dalley will also attend the meeting.
