Headlines:
| Blackouts on the horizon as JPS wage talks stall |
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| Tuesday, 25 March 2008 | |
Islandwide blackouts could be on the horizon as unions
representing the over 1,700 Jamaica Public Service Company workers say they
cannot guarantee normality after Thursday.At a press conference Tuesday afternoon the unions said the workers are fed up with the management of the JPS. For seven years the workers have not been paid the now $2 billion owed to them. President Emeritus of the National Workers Union, Clive Dobson said the country should expect disruptions in power supply if a meeting on Thursday afternoon ends in a stalemate. JPS workers said they continue to be frustrated over the company's delay in carrying out a reclassification exercise. Our news centre received confirmation Tuesday night, that the Oversight Committee which is looking into the matter called off a meeting which was scheduled for Tuesday. It is reported that the meeting was postponed as more time is needed to calculate the pay-outs to workers. The Committee is overseeing the implementation of a seven-year-old Industrial Dispute Tribunal award, regarding a job evaluation exercise as well as a new salary scale for JPS workers. As a result of the delay, it appears unlikely that JPS workers will receive retroactive payments next month as planned. |