Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter 
PATTERSON, DALLEY
AND ROBERTS
THE INTERVENTION of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson into the dispute between trade union leaders and Labour Minister Horace Dalley, has seen union leaders backing away from original calls for the removal of the minister and instead speaking of the need for conciliation and co-operation.
The meeting, which was held yesterday at Jamaica House with union representatives and Minister Dalley, also saw
the prime minister announcing that the Labour and Social Security Ministry is to be repositioned.
INTEREST OF WORKING CLASS
"We had a very good meeting with the prime minister and the Ministry of Labour," said Danny Roberts, vice-president of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), adding that there was now a much better understanding on all sides.
"We came away from the meeting with a clear understanding that what is of paramount importance is how we advance the several issues that we have been discussing in the interest of the working class," he said.
The trade union leaders had requested the prime minister's intervention after relationship with Minister Dalley deteriorated in recent months especially after medical technologists were fined last month by the courts for disobeying an order of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal
(IDT) to resume work.
"I have made it very clear that my confidence in the minister remains undiminished," Mr. Patterson said yesterday evening. "They (Ministry of Labour) are going to be working together, with the trade unions, and the Labour Advisory Council (LAC) to ensure we maintain harmony and promote development on the industrial front."
The prime minister stated that the ministry would be repositioned in keeping with the development goals of the country. Its technical capacity is to be enhanced to enable it to facilitate the development of a strong labour market.
"The Ministry must be repositioned and placed in a development mode, especially in light of the implementation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the need to improve the country's competitiveness," Mr. Patterson said in a statement released to the media.
EXAMINING THE CSME
Mr. Roberts said that the trade unionists would also be meeting with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade to discuss some of the implications of CSME for workers. He said a meeting will be arranged to involve the social partners in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago to examine aspects of the CSME.
Other issues discussed at the meeting were also the National Workplace Policy on HIV/ AIDS. The prime minister said government would insist on a policy of non-discrimination through this policy, but provisions will also be made to ensure that no one becomes a victim of contamination as a result of occupational exposure.
