Twelve years after nine workers were dismissed from their jobs at a Kingston power plant, the Privy Council has confirmed that the dismissal process was flawed.
A 12-year-old employment dispute from Jamaica, concerning the dismissal of nine employees from their jobs at an electricity plant in Kingston and the interpretation of the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act (LRIDA), has made its way across the Atlantic to the Privy Council, which on 11 February backed the decision of the Caribbean island’s Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT), which had previously found in favour of the fired workers. The claim centred on whether the dismissals were justified and whether the employer had followed proper consultation procedures with the unions.
The fuse on Private Power Operators v Industrial Disputes Tribunal was first lit on 28 June 2013, when nine employees were dismissed from their jobs at Private Power. Seven of these employees belonged to the National Workers Union (NWU) and two to the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE). Following the sackings, the unions served a strike notice, leading to the intervention of the Minister of Labour and Social Security, who referred the disputes to the IDT.
The IDT, chaired by Norman Wright KC, held hearings over 47 sittings between 13 March 2014 and 18 January 2016 and, on 5 April 2016, concluded that the dismissals were unjustified, citing failures in...
Akon made headlines last week over claims that his Akon City project had been abandoned by the Senegalese government. Speaking with Philadelphia media personality Mina Saywhat on the Minas' House ...