THE RELUCTANCE of the Minister of Labour and Social Security to use the provisions of the labour laws to protect the public from illegal strike action is again evident in the current case of the government's medical technologists.
The technologists broke the law in the first week of January, by failing to comply with the rules as they affect the essential services, which required them to take their dispute to the Ministry prior to any consideration of industrial action.
They were not reprimanded for that action. Now they have gone back on strike, in full defiance of the law and the Minister of Labour and Social Security, who had referred the dispute to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal from Tuesday. The IDT issued a back-to-work order yesterday.
But, spokesmen for the medical technologists have stated publicly that they will not resume work until the issue of their demand for parity with other government scientific officers is resolved.
In December we were treated to the Jamaica Public Service Company workers staying off the job for some two days, despite a 30-day court injunction, obtained by the Minister, to prevent a strike at the company.
These acts, which openly test the will of the Minister and his Ministry to utilise these provisions to protect the public from irresponsible behaviour in areas designated as essential services are becoming a major challenge to the Government's conciliatory machinery.
One remedy may be to amend the laws so that in addition to worker delegates being held responsible for these actions, the trade union leaders themselves should also be made liable to penalty.
But, in the final analysis, it is the Minister who has the responsibility to see that the rules are followed and, if they are not being followed, that appropriate sanctions are applied in the interest of the public. If the Minister consistently refuses to use those provisions, then he will be making himself subject to the whims of the offenders and ultimately redundant.
Trade union belligerence may have had its place when the movement was struggling for recognition which is now enshrined in law. If Jamaica is going to move forward and survive, the unions must shift from militancy and confrontation to constructive co-operation with management. The recent indication that they will consider productive as an objective in wage negotiation is a step in the right direction.
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