Martin Henry
CONCERNS FOR the protection of 'contract workers', like thousands of security guards not covered by trade unions, have led the Government to move for the long overdue modification of the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act to allow the Minister to refer the disputes of non-unionised workers with their employers to the IDT for arbitrative, and, therefore, binding resolution.
Sometimes when trade unions speak, it is easy to think that they are speaking for the entire labour force, or even most of it. The intertwined labour and political history of Jamaica, with the two political parties which have formed governments since 1944 linked to major trade unions, has had its effects on labour legislation. There are reserved Senate seats for labour leaders and many have won seats in the lower House. Two of two Premiers were union leaders and three of six Prime Ministers.
When the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) was constituted under the LRIDA in 1975, no power was given to the Minister, by the law, to refer cases involving non-unionised workers to the Tribunal.
INDEPENDENT ARBITRATOR
The IDT was set up as independent arbitrator when negotiations between employers and employees break down and the Ministry of Labour is called upon to step in. The assumption was that labour negotiations would, naturally be between the employer and a trade union acting on behalf of a group of workers in its membership, never mind that most workers even then were not members of a trade union. The standing of the individual employment contract was thus downgraded and the possibility of non-union group negotiation sidelined. Even today labour discussions, as for the introduction of flexible work arrangements, are described as 'tripartite', intending to involve only Government, employer organisations and trade unions.
In elaborate terms, Minister of Information Senator Burchell Whiteman, reporting from Cabinet, has declared that, "the constraints and imperatives of granting all non-unionised workers the right to settle industrial disputes at the IDT have been identified and the requisite safeguards will be implemented to remedy the deficiencies."
The Government, in those words, is acknowledging its independent responsibility to fully protect the rights of workers, unionised or not unionised. Labour rights are just a sub-set of constitutional rights and freedoms which the Government of the state specifically exists to protect. Workers should be free to join or not to join a trade union as part of their constitutional freedom and right of association. And the protection of their rights and the policing of contracts in the labour market is not a function that the Government can legitimately surrender to any other authority.
According to the Minister of Information, "this particular amendment will be a part of the process of ensuring that proper provisions are made for all workers in Jamaica. The Ministry of Labour has indicated that the capacity of the IDT as currently constituted will have to be increased to enable the embrace of all kinds of disputes that would now fall within its purview," he further pointed out.
SEEKING MORE IDT MEMBERS
The JIS is reporting that, "based on the proposal to grant an increasing number of persons the right of access to the IDT to settle disputes, it has also been found necessary to amend the Act to seek to increase the number of deputy chairmen and members of the IDT" which would allow more sittings.
The LRIDA specifically referred to and limited the IDT to "collective bargaining" agreements, and a clear procedure was set out for the intervention of the IDT in industrial disputes: "The parties shall first endeavour to settle any dispute or difference between them by negotiation. Where the parties have tried, but failed, to settle a dispute or difference any or all of them may request the Minister in writing to assist in settling it by means of conciliation. All the parties may request the Minister in writing to refer to the Tribunal for settlement, any dispute or difference which they tried, but failed, to settle by following the procedure specified."
The broadening of the powers of the IDT and the strengthening of its operational capacity should be good also for other critical elements of modernizing work and work relationships such as the formal introduction of flexible work arrangements which is bound to generate its own disputes.
The amended labour law will then be more in line with the proposed Charter of Rights designed to strengthen and replace Ch. III of the Constitution. The 'tripartite' Labour Advisory Committee, with whom the matter of changing the law has been discussed, has given its blessings to what the Council considers a "good move". It is good to see the trade unions and the employers association concurring on such an important move to transform the old order of labour relations.
Martin Henry is a communication specialist.
