Minister of Labour Colin Jordan said in a statement this evening that letters of suspension which Preconco had given eight shop stewards yesterday have been retracted and he has convened a meeting for Monday “to assist the parties in working toward resolution”.
“Today, March 11, the Chief Labour Officer, her team and I met with the management of Preconco Limited for approximately four hours and that was to address issues raised by the workers through their representative, the Barbados Workers’ Union.
“Along with providing some explanations on the issues raised by the workers, the meeting also addressed the suspension-with-pay of delegates who had attended a meeting convened yesterday morning by me as Minister and Conciliator,” the statement said.
“There had been some misunderstanding concerning the parameters of the meeting, and the company has retracted the letters with immediate effect and has informed the workers and representatives, accordingly.”
Jordan said he will be convening a meeting on March 15 “to assist the parties in working toward resolution of the substantive matters”.
Meanwhile, Barbados Workers Union general secretary Toni Moore said the workers were advised to resume duties after the meeting with Jordan, chief Labour Officer Claudette Hope-Greenidge and management of Preconco today.
Moore, who met with Preconco workers outside the company’s Lears Road, Jackmans, St Michael offices earlier today, had said she was staying until the meeting ended.
Later today, Morre said: “The Barbados Workers Union received copies of letters written to the shop stewards, who yesterday were suspended, indicating that those letters of suspension would be retracted . . . . BWU has asked the workers to resume their duties.
“We will go to the meeting [on Monday] and we will treat to the principal issues that we hoped to treat to yesterday which relate to outstanding pay and a number of other issues that have been before the Minister of Labour,” Moore said.
About 40 workers had walked off the job yesterday afternoon following the suspension of the eight shop stewards. (KG)
