ROBERTS, BROWN AND SPENCERTHE BUSTAMANTE Industrial Trade Union (BITU) says it will not sign on to the successor two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for public sector workers on Monday, as agreed to by the Joint Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) and the Government.
BITU President Ruddy Spencer told The Gleaner yesterday that his union had not yet received the final draft and would not be able to sign since it required the approval of senior officers who may not meet until Tuesday.
"I heard about the signing at about 12 yesterday afternoon, and that was when someone called me who had heard it on the radio," Mr. Spencer said.
JCTU Vice-President Danny Roberts, who has been leading the negotiations, said the final draft of the MoU, to be signed off on before the signing proper, was expected to be delivered at 4:00 p.m. yesterday.
At the same time Lambert Brown, president of the Universal and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) and second vice-president of the JCTU, insisted that the signing would take place on Monday.
"As I understand it, the JCTU has approved the document and the process, and I am sure that arrangements will be made for the unions to sign on Monday," Mr. Brown said.
The Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) and the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) have already said they do not intend to sign the new MoU. JTA President Ruel Reid has argued that the teachers' body will not sign on to a new agreement until Government responds to all its claims, while
the NAJ has said it will continue to
pursue its own negotiations outside the confederation.
