THE SUPREME Court has granted a stay of the implementation of last week's Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) award in favour of three redundant employees of the Jamaica Flour Mills Ltd.
The stay will allow lawyers for JFMills to seek to have the Supreme Court quash the award, which ordered the reinstatement of the three workers by today.
Another controversial award handed down by the IDT last week, in which it ordered United Estates, Bog Walk, St. Catherine, to deduct union dues on behalf of the NWU, is also likely to be contested in the Supreme Court.
Gregory Reid, lawyer for United Estates, told The Gleaner on Thursday that the company would be asking the Full Court (three judges) to quash rulings, both in terms of the union dues deductions, as well as wage and fringe benefits improvements. However, he said he was awaiting certain clarifications he had requested from the IDT.
Angela Robertson, lawyer for the JFM, declined to comment on her judicial move when contacted by The Gleaner. "She says she doesn't wish to comment on the matter at this time," her spokeswoman said.
But Vincent Morrison, NWU island supervisor, said
the approach of both companies to the awards was "unfortunate," as the matters were likely to be held up in court for some time. "It shows how employers operate when it comes to industrial relations practices, because they have the financial backing to frustrate the workers by delaying these awards," he said.
The IDT last week ordered JFMills to reinstate Simon Sukie, Michael Campbell and Ferron Gordon who had been made redundant in August, 1999, although Campbell and Gordon had already collected their redundancy payments.
The Tribunal, in a 2-1 majority award, sided with the National Workers' Union's view that the redundancies were not genuine, as they breached the Labour Relations Code (LRC). The company had claimed that they were in accordance with the Employment Termination and Redundancy Payment Act.
The Tribunal said that the two workers who had collected their redundancy payments, should refund the payments.
In addition to awarding pay increases of 10 per cent in the first year and 5 per cent to 10 per cent in the second of a two-year award, the IDT said that the NWU's demand that United Estates deduct union dues from workers who had so requested, on behalf of the union, was justified under the LRC.
