IN A MATTER of weeks, the retrenched National Conservation Commission (NCC) workers will “have their day” before a newly constituted Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT), pledged Minister of Labour, Senator Dr Esther Byer Suckoo.
Furthermore, the tribunal will conduct its business with simple procedures as the ministry recognised that some people coming before it would be doing so without an attorney.
The minister made the promise this morning at a media briefing in her Warrens Office Complex suite. The briefing was called to discuss the resignation of eight of the nine members from the original ERT with immediate effect on December 5. They were first appointed in April 2013 and never heard any case during their tenure.
Suckoo said she had accepted their resignations and her ministry had begun the process of appointing a new tribunal. Already the new chair and deputy chair have been approved by Cabinet and the ministry was awaiting the other six members from the unions and the employers’ organisations – who each choose three – to make up the nine members.
She said the new chair and deputy will receive their instruments by December 29 and afterwards will meet with her and the ministry. She declined to disclose their identity.
As to charges from the outgoing ERT in their letter of resignation that the ministry did not meet their basic requests to allow them to work, including office accommodation, a three-person secretariat and requisite equipment, Suckoo said the vision of the tribunal differed from theirs as to how it could operate. The ministry expected them to use its resources like other tribunals under their ambit do, but the ERT membership thought otherwise.
“Before their appointment, I must assure you, we did have resources in place – the human, physical and financial resources in keeping with other tribunals, including all of the NIS tribunals which fall under this ministry. However, this particular tribunal had a different vision for their operation and still we attempted to meet most of the new requests.
“Other tribunals are administered through ministries or departments and they don’t have their own offices, or telephones or staff and so on. Additionally, taking Government’s financial situation into consideration, some of the stated requirements were deemed unaffordable and not in the best interest of Government and the taxpayers of Barbados at this time, and served to delay the process,” said the minister.
Saying she too was concerned about the workers, Suckoo stated that she was satisfied, and has assured the parties that the ministry has everything in place to meet as soon as a new tribunal is appointed. Not only will the matters be dealt with expeditiously, she promised, but will not be complex.
“I give an undertaking too to continue to be accountable to Barbadians and to advise you every step of the way over the few weeks, and note I said weeks, and not months. This process is not going to take months,” she insisted.
