I've been watching with great interest, the industrial scene at Kingston Wharves Ltd....
(Kingston Wharves is one of Jamaica's leading multipurpose terminal operators, whose terminal stores imported goods coming into Jamaica.
Their 25-hectare terminal offers 22 hectare of open storage with 30,000 square meters of covered warehousing and cold storage. The company also has 53, 000 square meters of secure off-dock storage for motor vehicles.)
Workers went on strike on Thursday to protest the fact that thirty (30) of their number were made redundant.
Workers, via their union, the National Workers Union (NWU) and management were at an impasse over the situation, as the management of Kingston Wharves said they had no choice but to make these workers redundant, in order to decrease the company's expenses.
So the Ministry of Labour, via it's Minister, Pearnel Charles, had to step in.
They still couldn't resolve the issue, so Minister Charles asked the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (the IDT- the highest body in Jamaica which mediates labour disputes) to intervene. They did and the IDT ordered workers back to work Friday.
But workers, at the advice of their Union, refused to return to work up until today.
The Unions claim that:
1) They only got the "Back to Work Order" on Saturday
2) They are confused by the "Back to Work Order", as it is phrased in such a way that would imply that all workers, including those made redundant, should return to work.
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Now the action of the Trade Union is traditional...in exchange for union dues (money subtracted from workers' salaries to pay unions), Trade Unions are supposed to act on workers' behalves to ensure that they are treated fairly by management.
But the Union's action, in this case, is very curious.
The chairman and CEO of Kingston Wharves, Grantley Stephenson, says that Management has been in meetings with the Union from July 2008, re the proposed redundancy and in turn, the NWU requested to see Kingston Wharves' balance sheet and profit and loss statement, to ascertain if the redundancies were justified.
But management refused to allow them to see the financials, saying they were confidential documents.
The Unions claim the redundancies are in effect an attempt at Union Busting by management.
Well, whomever is at fault for this quagmire..Jamaica is losing $30-40 million in customs duty, per day, as a result of this industrial action...as ships cannot get to offload their cargo and have to return to their original destination.
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Unions, I agree, should defend workers, but they also need to equip workers for the 21st century and to make them so skilled, that them being made redundant, would not be an issue.
E.g. it's frightening that, according to Minister Charles, 65% of the workers that could have been sent to Canada, on a work exchange program as carpenters, can't even sign their names, as they're illiterate.
Yet these men and women are very talented carpenters...and are very multi-skilled...but yet they can't access jobs abroad, due to their illiteracy.
So what are the Unions doing about this?
Surely they should take some blame for workers' ill-preparedness for the 21st Century!??!
With the world financial crisis now affecting Jamaica, nobody can guarantee jobs...
Those employees who will survive redundancies, will be mutliskilled workers who have proven to management that they're such assets to an organization, that management can't afford to lose them.
Unions need to let workers understand that they cannot guarantee jobs and that for workers to then hold a company at ransom, to reinstate fellow-workers - who may be liabilities to an organization, is wrong.
So while Prime Minister Bruce Golding, when in Opposition, had promised "jobs, jobs and more jobs" for Jamaicans, if his party (the Jamaica Labour Party) was elected government...he, as head of government, is stabbing himself in the foot, as very few investors will invest in a country where unions hinder productivity and hence decrease company profits.
Investors will try to find countries with a skilled labour-force, whose workers are pliable and multi-skilled, so that they can be employed in more than one area, should the situation warrant it.
Until unions realize this, Jamaica will continue to lose jobs, jobs and more jobs!
Enough has been said!
Gillian
Sources Include:
1) Article, "Charles warns striking workers", Jamaica Gleaner, October 27, 2008
2) Nationwide Radio, October 24 & 27, 2008
3) Article "Who is right about IDT order?", by Taneisha Lewis Jamaica Observer, October 26, 2008
4) Kingston Wharves Ltd.'s website, "About us" page.
