AN AGREEMENT has been reached as to the way forward in the ongoing saga surrounding the retrenchment of workers of the National Conservation Commission (NCC).
And both acting Minister of Labour Senator Maxine McClean and NCC general manager Keith Neblett are confident that the matter will be resolved by the end of next week.
“That is the intention. It is not a matter that we want to have the issue drawn out,” McClean stated.
The two made that projection to members of the media following the 6:40 p.m. conclusion of a marathon meeting, which started close to 11 a.m. yesterday, with the board and management of the NCC, representatives of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) and Deputy Chief Labour Officer Victor Felix.
All parties reported that they had “cordial” discussions and that things were going in the right direction.
“We take matters dealing with people’s welfare very seriously. [We] might have some things across the board, but certainly at the end of the day we want to make sure. . . .that every person that is involved in this gets their say, and that there is some agreement to the benefit of everyone,” Neblett said.
There will be a meeting at 2 p.m. on Monday between the NCC and the unions, after which they will meet with the Minister of Labour.
McClean said the list of people to be retrenched was one of the issues to be discussed.
“The intention is to ensure that there is full understanding between the unions as to the bases on which those persons would have been terminated,” the acting Labour Minister said.
She said there were two major issues in the impasse which had to do with the interpretation of the Civil Service circular with regard to the policy, and concerns about the nature and extent of the level of consultation.
NUPW general secretary Dennis Clarke did not put a timeframe for which the issue should come to an end, but said they would be looking to reach a conclusion coming out of Monday’s meeting.
Deputy general secretary of the BWU, Dwayne Paul, added: “We are hopeful, as previously indicated, that a resolution comes as fast as possible in the best interest of the workers. And that is what we are working on. . . .We are committed to working through the process to bring a result as soon as possible.” (YB)