THE EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS Tribunal took a 30 minute adjournment about half an hour after it started its first public hearing into the retrenchment of more than 90 National Conservation Commission Workers.
The break came after attorney for the NCC Mitch Codrington said it was only this morning that he received two amended witness statements from the workers’ attorney Pat Cheltenham.
Cheltenham said one witness, Dennis Clarke, had significantly changed his statement while the other, Cutie Lynch, made less extensive changes.
The two are said to be key witnesses.
The events unfolded before a packed house at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre. Among those in attendance were senior officials of the Barbados Workers’ Union and the National Union of Public Workers.
Cheltenham revealed that while there were originally 96 claimants, that number has been reduced by at “at least 42” since some “have gone elsewhere”. (MB)
