Efforts to avert strike in Grenada

ST.GEORGE’S, Grenada – Feverish moves were on in Grenada today to avert the threat of a national strike.Prime Minister Tillman Thomas took over mediation talks to try to broker a deal in a simmering dispute between the Grenada Breweries Limited (GBL) and its workers represented by the Technical and Allied Workers Union (TAWU).Unconfirmed reports said a deal is on the table and the workers could be back on the job before the end of the day.There are fears that the dispute could spread into a full scale national shut-down as TAWU, which represents workers in all of the country’s key sectors, has threatened solidarity action.The union is demanding that, what it calls a lock out of the Brewery works ends, and negotiations resume over pay increases.The company had been seeking guarantees about labour discipline and plant security following what they have termed a wildcat strike.The issue seemed to have escalated yesterday when riot police were called in to dispurse protesting workers who were blocking supply trucks from leaving the factory.TAWU’s leader Chester Humphrey has denounced the action of the police. “We have not yet turned off the lights…the power,” said Humphrey who was detained on Tuesday at the height of industrial drama and will appear in court January 25 to answer charges of obstruction and failure to comply with a police order.“What happened changes the complexity of the whole situation. Make no mistake about it this is a fight between capital and labour and those who wield state power have already decided where they stand.” he told reporters on Wednesday in response to the action by the riot police.