Ja: Unions disempowered

THE JAMAICAN Court of Appeal has ruled that there is no legal authority for employers to inform or consult trade unions representing workers, when there are impending redundancies - in what is being described by some legal minds as an 'explosive ruling'.

It was the court's finding that the Ministry of Labour did not have the power either under the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act (LRIDA), or its companion Act, the Employ-ment (Termination and Redundancy Payments) Act, to make provision in the Labour Relations Code for the employers to have consultations with the unions.

The disclosure was made by the court this month when it upheld an appeal brought by the Institute of Jamaica. The institute had contended that the Judicial Review Court erred when it upheld a ruling of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT), that a temporary worker was unjustifiably dismissed and should be reinstated.

How will this play in T&T?