JCTU says Joint Industrial Council would ensure clear guidelines for tourism sector

By Halshane Burke    

 

The Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions says the call for a Joint Industrial Council for the tourism sector is to ensure there are clear guidelines governing operations.

 

JCTU President St. Patrice Ennis made the call for the council following industrial action by workers at several hotels.

 

Mr. Ennis said the concerns raised by the workers who took industrial action are not unique to those properties, and the industrial council would seek to address the issues before they cascade across other properties and inevitably impact the hotel sector and the country's economy.

 

"What we are proposing is a sector-wide approach where we can have some stability, some predictability, and some uniformity with respect to terms and conditions of the employment," he noted. 

 

Mr. Ennis said the council will require consensus from the investors, tourism workers and government to set the framework by which they will operate. 

 

"They could point out how they are going to deal with disputes, whether through arbitration, point out how they are going to deal with disciplinary measures, and even take industrial action totally off the table until they reach arbitration. So it's a matter of giving some stability and not having unions and workers competing against each other, but having some predictability and stability in the industry because as many of us are aware, the sector is not doing as good as it did in the past. And so to have these sort of industrial strikes causes persons to be concerned."

 

He was speaking Thursday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines.

 

Mr. Ennis said he is awaiting a response from government on the call for the council.