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JPSCo clears air on industrial action THE JAMAICA Public Service Company(JPSCo) says it has no intention of impeding the rights of workers to union representation or to disrupt the legitimate business of Jamaica Energy Partners in Old Harbour. The company said, however, that it must take the necessary steps to ensure that the safety of its staff and property was not compromised. About 77 unionised employees of Jamaica Energy Partners/North American Energy Services Jamaica Limited, which operates the Dr. Bird power barge on JPSCo premises in Old Harbour, St. Catherine, walked off the job last Wednesday, protesting against the treatment of their union spokesman, NWU senior negotiating officer Granville Valentine. Mr. Valentine told The Gleaner that he had gone to Old Harbour for two meetings Wednesday, when he was blocked by security guards. After Dr. Bird executives intervened, he was allowed inside. However, he said that after he entered the premises, he was threatened and told to leave the premises. In a statement on Friday, the JPSCo said that their action was in response to Mr. Valentine's refusal to comply with their established security requirements. The company said that access to the power barge can only be gained through the main entrance of their Old Harbour power plant and that Mr. Valentine had refused to comply with established security requirements and became boisterous when he was denied access and "the police were called in to have him removed from the premises." "It is not the intention of JPSCo to impede the right of workers to union representation or to disrupt any legitimate business of Jamaica Energy Partners. We must, however, take the necessary steps to ensure that the safety of our staff and property is not compromised," said JPSCo's chief operating officer Robert Patrick in a statement yesterday. The Dr. Bird power barge, regarded as the more efficient of the two private plants selling power to the JPSCo, has been providing a maximum 72 megawatts of power for the national grid since 1994.
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