Union: NWC got strike notice

The National Water Commission (NWC) was given more than 72 hours’ notice before workers of the state-run entity walked off the job, the Union of Public and Private Employees (UPPE) has said.

The revelation came in a Gleaner interview on Wednesday, with president of the UPPE, Fitzroy Bryan, insisting that more than a month’s notice was given following several rounds of virtual meetings.

Bryan said, too, that a letter with the notice was written to the NWC’s management.

The disclosure contradicts a claim by NWC President Mark Barnett who, on Tuesday, told The Gleaner that he was blindsided by the industrial action taken by more than 2,000 workers.

“They have had adequate notice. Seventy-two hours is a deadline notice for public-sector workers and essential services. They got longer notice than that,” Bryan said when contacted.

“They got at least a month’s notice because we were meeting online. They had adequate knowledge. I signed a letter that was sent,” he added.

But Barnett has maintained that no notice was given.

“Let the evidence be produced,” he said Wednesday in doubling down on his position.

He said that the leadership of the NWC is seeking advice from its internal counsel to see what action should be taken in light of the protest.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has also said that he has sought a legal opinion from Attorney General Dr Derrick McKoy on whether NWC and its workers are classified as essential workers.

“Jamaica is still a country of law and order, and, once its classification has been established or confirmed, the Government will determine how it proceeds,” he said at a leadership retreat in Hanover for members of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.

Part III Subsection (9) (5) of the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act forbids essential service workers from taking industrial action.

It says any industrial action taken in contemplation or furtherance of an industrial dispute by an essential service worker is unlawful unless the dispute was reported to the minister and he/she failed to act within 10 days or refer the dispute to a tribunal for settlement or give directions in writing to the parties to settle the dispute if he/she was not satisfied that all attempts were previously made.

Additionally, if the dispute was referred to the tribunal for settlement and the tribunal failed to make an award or settle the matter within 21 days, industrial action by essential service workers is not deemed unlawful.

A seasoned industrial relations expert, who declined to go on record, told The Gleaner that while workers should not be victimised for actions that shuttered some businesses, schools, and government activities across the country, their actions should not go unpunished.

“An unlawful act doesn’t carry victimisation. An unlawful act is one that must be prosecuted on the basis of a breach. So that clarification needs to be made by the parties involved,” he said, noting that a passive approach may give rise to industrial action in other sectors.

The protest, which impacted more than 500,000 NWC customers, ended Wednesday when the five unions representing the workers reached a consensus with the Government after 16 hours of talks.

The workers were demanding action from the Government over an outstanding reclassification from 2008 and their non-inclusion in the ongoing review of public-sector compensation.

According to the signed agreement, obtained by The Gleaner, a compensation review is to be implemented within six months.

The parties agreed that there would be no victimisation on either side arising from the industrial action.

Additionally, a consultant is to be procured to conclude a job evaluation using the new public-sector job evaluation tool and the consultant conducting the compensation restructuring will make the alignment to the restructured public service.

The exercise will consist of a steering committee involving each of the five unions at the NWC for further local communication and consultation.

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service shall provide the final organisational structure of the NWC to the unions by the first meeting of the steering committee scheduled for Friday, May 20, and provide the report of the market survey that was conducted of private-sector companies by May 20, 2022.

The proposal for the compensation restructure for the NWC will be conducted and finalised within three months from May 20, 2022. Thereafter, the results of the exercise shall be implemented within three months.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com