General secretary of Unity Workers’ Union (UWU), Caswell Franklyn, is charging that the Barbados Energy and Sugar Company Inc. (BESCO) is acting illegally over a memorandum it sent to workers after they staged industrial action at Portvale Sugar Factory on Monday.
The memo, dated November 3 under BESCO letterhead, is addressed to all staff from management on “unauthorised industrial action”.
Identifying the protest as a wildcat strike, the correspondence stated that employees would not be paid for their unauthorised absence from work, and that they were “expected to utilise the accepted industrial relations channels in keeping with company policy and good-faith workplace practices”.
“Further, any future unauthorised industrial action will be regarded as a serious breach of company policy and may result in loss of pay and/or disciplinary action”.
The memo stated that employees “are expected to report to work as scheduled and remain on duty unless authorised otherwise”, adding that “a significant number of individuals left the compound for the remainder of the workday with no communication to management”.
Franklyn, who was with the workers during the industrial action at the Blowers, St James factory, said the company’s actions were in breach of the Trade Union Act.
“They are saying that these people took wildcat action. No. Wildcat action comes only when it’s not supported by the union. The union authorises industrial action, not the employer; the employer does not make that determination,” he declared.
He referred to Clause 40A of the Trade Union Act which states: “An employer who dismisses a workman or adversely affects the employment or alters the position of a workman to his prejudice because that workman (a) (iv) takes part in trade union activities outside or with the consent of the employer, within working hours, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $1 000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.”
Unfair dismissal
Monday’s protest was a result of what the workers
believed to be the unfair dismissal of a colleague alleged to have used foul language with a junior manager at the factory.
Franklyn argued that the circumstances surrounding the firing were “unfair and unreasonable”, adding the employee was dismissed without knowing a complaint was raised against him or having the chance to state his case.
The general secretary said the memo bore no signature and was handed out by a fellow employee rather than any of the managerial staff.
“My thing is that they handed it out to the staff when they turned up for work, but they did not sign it. So rather than try to settle this, they want to escalate it in a manner that . . . can find themselves before the court, because this is an offence that can be prosecuted.
“Unfortunately for the workers, it isn’t signed, so the only person that I can bring a case against in court would be the person that handed it out because the company can say, ‘But this isn’t ours’. I really do not want to penalise a worker who was just carrying [out] instructions, even though those instructions were not lawful,” he added.
Repeated attempts to reach management for a response both yesterday and Thursday were unsuccessful.
Franklyn said he believed that part of the conflict with Monday’s strike related to who represents the Portvale workers, as when the UWU sent correspondence, the company in turn contacted the Barbados Workers’ Union to address members of staff on their concerns.
“They will argue that my union is not authorised, but Section 48 of the Trade Union Act states that if you try to organise and they dismiss or otherwise disadvantage you, it’s [an] offence. So, even if a union isn’t registered yet, and if you’re now even trying to sort out a union and you disadvantage the worker, that’s [an offence],” he said. (JRN)
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