Headlines:
| JPS & Unions sign agreement |
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| Wednesday, 07 May 2008 | |
The seven year job reclassification dispute involving the
Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) and its employees is over.An agreement was signed Tuesday night at the Ministry of Labour for $2.3 billion to be paid out to JPS workers. Pay outs will begin on May 30 to existing employees. Labour Minister Pearnel Charles who chaired the meeting which involved JPS management officials and union representatives said former workers will be paid on June 30. "All four unions and consultants and the company signed the agreement with many features - statutory deductions associated with the exercise will be the responsibility of the company, also attendance costs for any classification." Mr. Charles said both the company and the unions have accepted the new compensation package in keeping with the award of the Industrial Dispute Tribunal. The agreement was signed just days after a near shutdown of the JPS due to industrial action by some categories of unionised employees. The workers became irate after news broke on Friday that the consultants involved in calculating payments had been fired by the power company. Following emergency meetings on the weekend, the workers ended their protest and the consultants were reinstated. The consultants had been engaged over the last few months in the computation of amounts due to individual employees for the period 2001 to 2007 under the reclassification exercise. Tax free It is estimated that little over 2,000 and former JPS employees will benefit from the $2.3 billion pay out. President Emeritus of the National Workers Union Clive Dobson, told RJR News that the disbursements will be tax-free. "The company will absorb all taxes that will be associated with the pay out." |