BITU, BoJ return to bargaining table
published: Thursday | August 10, 2006

BITU, BoJ return to bargaining table

The Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and the management of the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) will be returning to the bargaining table tomorrow.

Rudy Spencer, president of the BITU, told The Gleaner on Tuesday that activities at the bank would remain normal until Friday's talk.

Last week, some 300 unionised workers stayed off the job for four hours as they pressed for improved wages. The decision to take industrial action was made after the bank's management and the BITU failed to resolve wage-related issues.

Mr. Spencer said at the time that the protest was to highlight what he claimed was the inconsideration shown by management to the BoJ workers, following months of negotiations.

Business hardly affected

According to Rudolph Muir, deputy governor at the bank with responsibility for public relations, the strike had little impact on business transactions because it was only confined to part of the day.

The workers are insisting that their salary increases should be above what was agreed under the second Memorandum of Understanding signed in May between unions representing public sector workers and the Government.

Under MoU2, there is a 20 per cent cap on the public sector wage fund over the next two years, but it allows state companies, such as the BoJ, that can afford to pay their workers more to do so.