Everything not so IRIE - Radio station, union wrestle over staff cuts

The National Workers’ Union (NWU) has blasted IRIE FM’s attempt to terminate 27 staff members as “unethical” and insensitive, saying the action is without justifiable cause.

The reggae-centred radio station went off air late last month as employees stopped working to protest against the management’s decision to lay off six of their colleagues.

Following talks with the Ministry of Labour, the workers returned to their jobs and the station also returned to the airwaves.

However, last Monday, the management of IRIE FM once again issued the workers, including Bob Clarke, one of the founders of the station, with termination letters.

Granville Valentine, president of the NWU, said the radio station’s most recent attempts to lay off the staff members is sheer bullyism.

“It is one of those situations that I would say is unethical in many ways, based on how the management handled the situation. It is one that is very insensitive, it is one that doesn’t take into account workers and workers’ input. One understands clearly the crisis that we are facing currently, but respect and dignity must be shown to workers, as stipulated in the labour relations code.

“You can say it is victimisation because persons were singled out specifically because they are union members, which are the vast majority of the workers. There is no crisis that we were brought up to speed with, everything came by word of mouth. There was no evidence of fact, it’s just one person reporting her view of what it is, and that is not transparency,” Valentine said.

DOWNTURN

The company said the lay-offs are in response to the downturn from the COVID-19 crisis.

According to an employee, who asked to remain anonymous, workers who have been retained by the station will have to undergo a salary cut.

“The managers are getting a 70 per cent salary cut, and the telephone operators, one person in IT is getting a 60 per cent cut, and all the presenters are getting a 50 per cent cut; and the rest of staff that she keep just working two days,” the employee shared.

These cost-saving measures were advised by the NWU, but according to Valentine, even though they were implemented by the company, the management still listed the 27 employees on the lay-off list, allegedly due to personal dislike.

“The company indicated some cost-saving issues that existed; for example, they said they could not find the payroll amount of $3.6 million to pay their staff, and we went back to the drawing board and came up with cost-saving measures to the tune of $9 million. It is our humble view that this $9 million could have carried the membership of all staff for another three months,” Valentine said.

The union boss said he has asked the labour ministry to refer the matter to the trade union as the radio station’s action should be reversed.

Debbian Dewar, managing director at the radio station, declined to comment when she was contacted by The Gleaner.