Hylton leads list of honourees for JIC 60th

Noel Hylton, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Port Authority of Jamaica, leads the list of honourees who will be recognised by the Joint Industrial Council (JIC) on the occasion of its 60th anniversary. The JIC was established on August 26, 1952.

Hylton will be honoured for the key role he played in the 1966 historic labour agreement that led to the modernisation of the Port of Kingston, as well as the considerable work he has done in the near 50 years to develop the Port of Kingston and secure the employment of thousands of workers across the shipping industry.

Also being honoured is union stalwart Alvin Sinclair, vice-president of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), in recognition of 26 years of unwavering commitment to the JIC and advocacy on behalf of port workers. Sinclair is a staunch supporter of the concept of the JIC and an advocate of its usefulness in industrial relations practice. He is the most consistent participant at the JIC in the last 26 years and has only been absent when ill or overseas on business. He is usually the first person in the meeting room and has never been late for a sitting of the council.

Also being honoured are George Fyffe, assistant general secretary of the BITU, in recognition of his dedicated service to industrial relations on the Port of Kingston for 40 years; and Barrington Dawes, deputy general secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Roosevelt Walker, union officer of the United Portworkers and Seamen Union (UPSU) for their sterling contribution to the JIC and industrial relations on the Port of Kingston.

Grantley Stephenson, chairman and CEO of Kingston Wharves Limited, is being honoured for his outstanding leadership in guiding the shipping industry through one of its significant periods of change and development and for outstanding contribution to the growth of the JIC; Trevor Riley, general manager of the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ), for his outstanding service and contribution to the JIC and his dedication to continuing the tradition of industrial harmony on the Port of Kingston; and Dudley Doyley, shift monitor/trainer at the SAJ, for 46 years of dedicated service and contribution to the Port of Kingston.

Shipping stalwart Ludlow Stewart, former president of the SAJ and former chairman of the JIC, is being honoured posthumously for his distinguished career in the shipping industry and dedicated service to the JIC between 1957 and 2010.

Carlos Urriola Tam, president of the Caribbean Shipping Association, will be guest speaker at the awards ceremony, which will be held at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel.

The JIC was established by the SAJ, the BITU, the TUC and the UPSU. The main objective of the JIC is to ensure the largest measure of cooperation between management and labour with a view to the development of the Port of Kingston and for the improvement of the condition of all engaged in the operation of the port.